DEFENCE

Second World War Arctic Convoys

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to recognise those who served in the Arctic convoys during the second world war; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: The Prime Minister appointed Sir John Holmes earlier this year to undertake an independent review of the rules applying to military medals, and reported the results of Sir John's interim review to the House on 17 July 2012, Official Report, column 132WS. Further work is now under way, including a re-examination of some of the issues which have been the subject of past campaigns, such as those for an Arctic Convoy medal. The outcome of Sir John's further work is expected by the end of the year.

Defence Equipment and Support

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made on transforming Defence Equipment and Support.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence is determined to transform the efficiency of procurement and support to provide the right equipment to our armed forces at the right time and at a cost affordable to the taxpayer.
	As the Secretary of State announced in July, work is being advanced on developing the Government Owned Contractor Operated option, an innovative model to introduce private sector management expertise to supplement the military and specialist skills necessary for armed forces procurement.
	We continue to consider the value for money case which I expect to conclude shortly. Subject to the outcome, the GO-CO option will be taken forward for full investment appraisal in 2013 benchmarked against the alternative of an improved Defence Equipment and Support.

Afghanistan

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress has been made on the security transition in Afghanistan.

Philip Hammond: Transition of security to Afghan control, as agreed at the Lisbon Conference in 2010, is on track to be achieved by the end of 2014. In May, the Afghan Government announced the third tranche of districts and provinces that will enter the process. This sees the Afghans take the lead for security in areas home to 75% of the population. And since April this year we have been able to reduce the number of UK bases in Helmand from 80 to 39 as the Afghans assume day-to-day responsibility.
	By mid-2013, all parts of Afghanistan will have begun transition, and Afghan forces will be in the lead for security nationwide. This will mark an important milestone in the Lisbon road map. The progress of security transition is allowing ISAF gradually, and responsibly, to draw down its forces to complete its combat mission by 31 December 2014.

Afghanistan

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the UK armed forces who served in Afghanistan during (a) Operation Herrick 8, (b) Operation Herrick 9 and (c) Operation Herrick 10 have died since their return from Afghanistan; what the parent regiment of each such person was; and whether each death (i) took place (A) while the person was still serving in the armed forces or (B) after discharge and (ii) has been (1) ruled a suicide or (2) judged to be a potential suicide.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold data relating to cause of death for service personnel once they have left service, thus we are unable to provide a response to the number of suicides after discharge. The MOD is also not in receipt of routine notification of deaths to reservist personnel unless they are mobilised.
	The post-tour suicides or potential suicides of armed forces personnel who had been deployed on Operation Herrick 8, 9 and 10 and who were still serving at the time of their death, are set out in the following table (to protect the identity of individuals the information provided is by service in place of regiment):
	
		
			 UK armed forces post-operational suicides—Operation Herrick 8, 9 and 10 
			  Operation Herrick 8 Operation Herrick 9 Operation Herrick 10 
			  RN Army RAF RN Army RAF RN Army RAF 
			 Cases where coroner has given a suicide or open verdict 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 
			 Cases where mechanism of death suggests suicide but no inquest has yet taken place 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 
		
	
	These post-deployment deaths have occurred any time between three months and three years from the date of return.

Afghanistan

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the UK armed forces served in Helmand in Afghanistan during (a) Operation Herrick 8, (b) Operation Herrick 9 and (c) Operation Herrick 10; and how many such people on each such operation have been (i) treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and (ii) discharged for psychological reasons since returning from Afghanistan.

Mark Francois: The number of armed forces personnel that served on Op Herrick 8, 9 and 10 were:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Op Herrick 8 6,006 
		
	
	
		
			 Op Herrick 9 6,419 
			 Op Herrick 10 7,214 
		
	
	Of these, the numbers that have been subsequently seen for an episode of care for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Op Herrick 8 111 
			 Op Herrick 9 98 
			 Op Herrick 10 190 
		
	
	The number of individuals who have been identified as previously deployed on Operation Herrick 8, 9 or 10, and who were subsequently medically discharged with a principal or contributory cause of mental and behavioural disorders, is as follows:
	
		
			  Medical discharge on psychological grounds (mental and behavioural disorders) 
			  Principal cause Contributory cause 
			 Operation Navy Army RAF Navy Army RAF 
			 Herrick 8 0 18 <5 0 0 0 
			 Herrick 9 6 7 0 <5 <5 0 
			 Herrick 10 0 24 <5 0 <5 0

Defence Vetting Agency

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Government have any plans to merge the Defence Vetting Agency with the vetting functions of other Government Departments.

Mark Francois: The MOD's vetting organisation already provides services to a wide range of other Government Departments and police forces. It is the largest single provider of vetting services and has developed an electronic vetting capability to further improve efficiency and effectiveness. We continue to discuss with the Cabinet Office and other organisations whether additional benefits could be driven from consolidating all of the provision of vetting into a single organisation, but no decision has been taken at this time. It should be noted that a change in structure in October 2011 resulted in the Defence Vetting Agency becoming part of Defence Business Services and being renamed National Security Vetting. The role remains the same and a key priority is to widen further DBS-NSV's customer base across Government Departments and other public bodies.

Service Personnel Children

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps the Government are taking to extend support in education for the children of current and former service personnel.

Mark Francois: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave today to my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Chishti) and my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton (Mr Jones).

World Land Speed Record (Bloodhound SSC Team)

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department is providing to the Bloodhound SSC world land speed record team; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence is supporting the Bloodhound project by providing three retired Typhoon jet engines from the test programme that will power the vehicle, a five-man team of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in support and an RAF pilot who is taking time off to drive it. I have recently signed a concordat with the project which provides a framework for collaboration between the MOD and the project.

Aircraft Carriers

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many aircraft sorties per day the Queen Elizabeth class carrier is designed to operate.

Philip Hammond: I am withholding the information on how many sorties can be flown in a day as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Aircraft Carriers

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Queen Elizabeth class carrier has a well deck; what his policy is on the storage and use of Royal Marine maritime transport vessels; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 18 October 2012
	The Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers do not have a well deck, but they will have the capability to carry troops and helicopters to take part in amphibious operations.
	The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review concluded that, as part of Future Force 2020, the Royal Marines will be able to land and sustain a commando group of up to 1,800 personnel from the sea from a helicopter platform and protective vehicles, logistics and command and control support from specialist ships. To achieve this aim, the Royal Navy retains one Landing Platform Dock, one Landing Platform Helicopter, and two Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary) at high readiness, with a further Landing Platform Dock and a Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) held at extended readiness.

Aircraft Carriers

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the aviation mix is of hardware for the Queen Elizabeth class carrier in the littoral role.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 18 October 2012
	The Queen Elizabeth (QE) class aircraft carrier will have the capacity to deploy up to 36 Lightning II aircraft and four helicopters. Alternatively, it can also carry a mix of helicopters, the precise mix of aircraft being dependent on the mission, enabling the QE class to support a broad range of operations including in the littoral.

Aircraft Carriers

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the capacity to maintain operationally qualified pilots with a single Queen Elizabeth class carrier.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 19 October 2012
	The operational qualification of pilots will be synchronised with the ship's generation cycle to maintain the required level of capability and readiness.

Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to introduce safeguards to prevent the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme from becoming a vehicle for lobbying.

Andrew Murrison: I am not aware that the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme has been used for lobbying. A review of the scheme, with the agreement of the Speaker, has been undertaken, the purpose of which was to ensure the scheme is structured in a transparent and accountable way with sufficient safeguards in place to mitigate any accusations of lobbying or impropriety. Options identified by the review will be considered by stakeholders and by the House of Commons Commission.

Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the review of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme will be completed.

Andrew Murrison: The independent review of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme (AFPS) is now complete and recommendations will be considered shortly by the key stakeholders of the scheme. The proposed way ahead for the AFPS will be discussed by the House of Commons Commission on 29 October 2012.

Astute Class Submarines

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the regulator's advice to his Department on the redevelopment of the Rolls-Royce Raynesway plant for the production of future reactor cores.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 17 October 2012
	The Raynesway site is a nuclear licensed site under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965. Any advice on the redevelopment of the site would be provided by the regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), to the licensee, Rolls-Royce Marine Power Engineering.
	The ONR has not yet provided advice to Rolls-Royce on the planned redevelopment of the site. It is ONR's policy to publish its formal advice on its website at:
	www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/

BAE Systems

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on any future proposals for foreign investment in BAE Systems.

Philip Dunne: The Government's position remains unchanged. While decisions regarding the future of the company are a matter for BAE Systems, the Government's role is to ensure that the UK's national security interests are properly protected.

Consultants

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department plans to take to ensure it abides by its pledge to decrease expenditure on consultants.

Philip Hammond: The Ministry of Defence will continue to implement the Cabinet Office controls on consultancy expenditure that were published on 24 May 2010, and updated in July 2012, which can be found at the following link:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-controls-guidance
	Departmental spending on consultancy was £79 million in 2009-10; in 2010-11 it was £26 million, a reduction of approximately two-thirds.

Guided Weapons

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Navy was involved in the procurement of the Fire Shadow missile; and what the nature was of any such involvement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 18 October 2012
	Fire Shadow was developed in response to a requirement from the Land environment. However, the Royal Navy was briefed during the procurement phase.

Job Satisfaction

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether low morale is an issue at the Ministry of Defence; and how he plans to alleviate any such problem.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) uses a number of measures to monitor and understand changes in morale, and while headcount reductions and pay restraint have inevitably had an impact, I continue to be impressed by the dedication of MOD personnel, both military and civilian. The outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, coupled with the need to reduce the national deficit, has necessitated a series of tough decisions. However, the outcome of the current transformation programme will be a leaner, more efficient Department that continues to offer challenging, interesting and fairly remunerated careers.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what air-launched medium or tactical nuclear weapons the joint attack fighter will be cleared to deploy.

Philip Dunne: There are no plans to equip the UK Lightning II aircraft with a nuclear capability.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which service will be responsible for the F-35B variant joint strike fighter on board the new Queen Elizabeth class carrier.

Philip Dunne: As announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the UK's carrier strike capability will be delivered jointly by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.

Libya: Military Intervention

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Storm Shadow, (b) Tomahawk and (c) Brimstone missiles were expended during Operation Ellamy.

Andrew Robathan: During Operation Ellamy, UK forces employed a combined total of around 80 Storm Shadow and Tomahawk land attack missiles; and around 230 dual mode seeker Brimstone missiles.
	I am withholding the detailed breakdown of Storm Shadow and Tomahawk land attack missile numbers employed as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Libya: Military Intervention

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many mid-air refuelling operations were required on average on a single sortie from RAF Marham to Libyan airspace and back during Operation Ellamy.

Andrew Robathan: During Operation Ellamy, on average three mid-air refuelling operations were required for each Tornado strike mission transiting to Libya from RAF Marham and two refuelling operations for the return transit to RAF Marham.

Military Aircraft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to introduce maritime patrol aircraft in the UK.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) on 13 September 2012, Official Report, column 312W.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a list of all the types of helicopter platforms in present use across all three services; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 19 October 2012
	The following types of helicopter platforms were in use with the three services as at 30 September 2012:
	
		
			 Owned and operated by MOD 
			 Aircraft type Service 
			 Apache Army 
			 Chinook RAF 
			 Gazelle Army 
			 Lynx Army and Navy 
			 Wildcat Army 
			 Merlin RAF and Navy 
			 Puma RAF 
			 Sea King RAF and Navy 
			 EurocopterAS365N3 Army 
		
	
	
		
			 Leased but flown by MOD 
			 Aircraft type Service 
			 Bell 212 Army 
			 Bell 412 RAF 
			 Agusta 109 RAF 
			 EurocopterAS350BB Tri-service

National Security

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made on the implementation of the recommendations in his Department's White Paper on National Security Through Technology.

Philip Dunne: Good progress is being made in implementing the recommendations of the National Security Through Technology White Paper. This includes: sustaining the level of investment in defence science and technology at 1.2% of the Defence budget; encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises to fulfil their potential in responding to defence requirements; embedding the new national security principles of operational advantage and freedom of action within departmental processes; and increasing support for Defence exports.

Nimrod Aircraft

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what capabilities are currently being utilised to fulfil the role that would otherwise have been undertaken by Nimrod MRA4 aircraft; and what capabilities will fulfil this role in the long term.

Philip Dunne: A layered range of complementary assets is utilised to fulfil the maritime patrol capability which includes Type 23 Frigates, Merlin helicopters, attack submarines, and Hercules C130 and E-3D Sentry aircraft. This is the same provision that was in place under the previous Government. We do not have a defined requirement for a future capability, as I have stated in the answer that I gave on 13 September 2012, Official Report , column 312W, to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson).

Operation Atalanta

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to extend the mandate for Operation Atalanta.

Andrew Robathan: Operation Atalanta's mandate will expire in December 2014. A review of the operation will take place six months in advance and a decision will then be taken on the mission's continuation.

Procurement

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress his Department has made in improving the effectiveness of procurement of items valued under £1,000; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is making more effective use of the central contracting approach being led by the Cabinet Office, through the Government Procurement Service (GPS). This has accounted for some £220 million of MOD expenditure in the first quarter of the current financial year. The MOD uses GPS contracts and electronic catalogue systems to purchase most low-value items under £1,000, including stationery, information technology consumables, printing and furniture. This procurement approach maximises savings to the MOD and reduces the need to use other purchasing routes.

Radio Frequencies

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on his Department's consultation on the release of the 870-872 and 915-917 MHz bandwidths; and if he will make a statement on timelines.

Peter Luff: holding answer 13 July 2012
	The Ministry of Defence is currently liaising with a number of other Government Departments and Ofcom to conduct the technical and regulatory analysis required to enable the sharing of the spectrum in 870-872 and 915-917MHz. I will write to the hon. Member once the position is clearer.
	Substantive answer from Philip Dunne to Chi Onwurah:
	My predecessor undertook to write to you in his answer of 17 July 2012, Official Report, column 764W, regarding your parliamentary question about radio frequencies. The Ministry of Defence has decided to relinquish its management responsibility for the spectrum in the 870-872 and 915-917 MHz bands as there is no requirement to use it for military purposes now or in the future. The Government now need to consider whether they still require the spectrum for non-military use before the spectrum could be returned to Ofcom for assignment to other users. This process is now under way.

Research

Chris Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what external policy research his Department has commissioned in each of the last six years; which organisation was commissioned to provide each such piece of research; and what the cost of each such piece of research was.

Philip Hammond: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Territorial Waters

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many vessels were (a) intercepted and (b) boarded by the Royal Navy in UK territorial waters in each year since 2007.

Andrew Robathan: Details of the number of fishery protection vessel interceptions and boardings in each year since 2007 are listed in the following table. This excludes Scottish waters as these are managed by the Marine Scottish Alliance.
	
		
			  Interceptions Boardings 
			 2007 2,191 1,378 
			 2008 1,709 983 
			 2009 2,050 1,288 
			 2010 1,974 1,303 
			 2011 2,069 1,415 
			 2012(1) 1,465 977 
			 Total 11,458 7,344 
			 (1 )To date. 
		
	
	Not all interceptions require boarding; the Royal Navy makes a physical approach usually within one mile and contacts initially by a radio challenge. Subsequently, a decision to board may be made. All these figures are recorded by the Marine Management Organisation.
	There have been a total of 23 interceptions other than fishery protection vessels since 2007 made by the Royal Navy, one of which was a counter-narcotics boarding and seizure.
	During Op OLYMPICS, one interception by a Royal Marine offshore raiding craft was made in Dorset. No maritime interceptions were made by Royal Naval vessels on the River Thames.

Trident

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which other Ministers will be involved in the Trident Alternatives Review.

Philip Hammond: The Review is being led by the Cabinet Office and will report to the Prime Minister and to the Deputy Prime Minister. It is being conducted under the oversight of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander).

TREASURY

Banks: Loans

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the monthly publication of levels of net bank lending to (a) small and medium-sized businesses and (b) individuals by each participating bank in the Funding for Lending Programme.

Greg Clark: The Bank of England will publish, for each bank participating in the Funding for Lending Scheme, the net flows of lending to households and non-financial businesses on a quarterly basis from 3 December 2012.

Bumi PLC

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on Bumi PLC.

Greg Clark: holding answer 19 October 2012
	Treasury Ministers and officials meet with, and receive representations from, a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the usual policymaking process. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.

Child Benefit: EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many non-UK EEA nationals have dependants eligible to receive child benefit where the dependant is (a) in the UK and (b) outside the UK; and how much has been paid to them in child benefit payments in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: Information in respect of (a) and in respect of the amounts paid in child benefit is not available. However, information in respect of (b) is available from a database maintained by HM Revenue and Customs showing the number of ongoing UK family benefit awards made under EC Regulation 883/2004. This Regulation protects the social security rights of nationals of all member states of the European economic area (EEA) and Switzerland, including the UK, when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law.
	Around 7.5 million families are currently claiming child benefit for around 13 million children. Out of that total, at 30 September 2012, there were 23,855 ongoing child benefit awards under EC Regulation 883/2004 in respect of 40,251 children living in another member state. The breakdown by member state is as follows:
	
		
			 Child benefit 
			 Country Number of ongoing awards as at 30 September 2012 Number of children in ongoing awards as at 30 September 2012 
			 Austria 27 41 
			 Belgium 146 290 
			 Bulgaria 175 227 
		
	
	
		
			 Cyprus 54 78 
			 Czech Republic 179 293 
			 Denmark 20 34 
			 Estonia 37 57 
			 Finland 15 33 
			 France 1,155 2,146 
			 Germany 368 647 
			 Greece 53 79 
			 Hungary 132 203 
			 Iceland 3 5 
			 Italy 202 350 
			 Latvia 822 1,109 
			 Lithuania 1,212 1,710 
			 Luxembourg 10 21 
			 Malta 15 21 
			 Norway 37 72 
			 Poland 15,251 25,623 
			 Portugal 236 355 
			 Republic of Ireland 1,242 2,529 
			 Romania 197 334 
			 Slovakia 1,105 1,953 
			 Slovenia 7 12 
			 Spain 776 1,291 
			 Sweden 64 112 
			 Switzerland 121 242 
			 The Netherlands 194 384 
			 Total 23,855 40,251 
		
	
	Information about the value of child benefit awarded by the UK under EC Regulation 883/2004 is available only at disproportionate costs. This is because under the priority rules in that regulation, not all such awards are made at full UK rates.

Commodity Markets

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the notional value of derivatives held by the banks regulated by the Financial Services Authority is; and what information is held about the maturity and exposure of such derivatives.

Greg Clark: This information is not currently available. The shortfall in information available to regulators on derivatives during the financial crisis led the G20 in 2009 to propose that all over the counter derivative trade information should be reported to Trade Repositories. This requirement, which is expected to enter into force in the EU by the start of 2013, will allow information on all derivatives trades to be made available to the relevant authorities.

Conservative Party: Conferences

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the names of each individual and organisation he met in an official capacity at the 2012 Conservative party conference.

Sajid Javid: The Chancellor did not hold any meetings in an official capacity at the 2012 Conservative party conference.

Corporation Tax: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made by the Ministerial Working Group considering the devolution of corporation tax to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The Ministerial Working Group has made real progress on understanding the practicalities and potential impacts of the devolution of corporation tax to Northern Ireland. The group will report its findings to the Prime Minister soon.

Debts: Iceland

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects debt owed by Iceland to be repaid; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark: Negotiations with Iceland over the terms of a loan agreement in respect of the compensation paid to UK depositors of Icesave, the UK branch of Landsbanki h.f., are ongoing. Progress is currently suspended pending the outcome of proceedings by the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Surveillance Authority (ESA) against Iceland in the EFTA Court in respect of Iceland's alleged failure to meet its legal obligations to UK and Dutch depositors under the EU Deposit Guarantee Directive.
	The EFTA court held an oral hearing on 18 September 2012 where the UK, the Netherlands and the European Commission made oral submissions in support of the ESA's case. The court is expected to reach a decision in the next few months.
	Details of the Icesave loans as at 31 March 2012, including repayments and interest received, can be found in Sections 33 of the Treasury Annual Reports and Accounts 2011-12. The report can be accessed via the following web link:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/hmt_annual_report_2012.pdf

Financial Services

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Services Authority on the mis-selling of interest rate swaps to small and medium-sized businesses.

Greg Clark: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with, and receive representations from, a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the usual policymaking process. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury's practice to provide details of all such representations.

Financial Services: Advisory Services

Tim Farron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the number of independent financial advisers who went out of business as a result of changes in the rules regulating the sale of private pensions in 1997.

Greg Clark: holding answer 17 October 2012
	No estimate has been made by this Department of the number of independent financial advisers who went out of business as a result of any changes to the regulation of private pensions around that period.

Infrastructure

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a report on the progress of the priority infrastructure projects outlined in the National Infrastructure Plan, setting out how many projects have (a) begun construction work or (b) agreed contracts with contractors.

Danny Alexander: The Government committed in the National Infrastructure Plan 2011 to provide an annual update on the progress of the priority programmes and projects, and we will do this by the end of this year. We previously provided an update on the progress of the priority projects at the 2012 Budget.
	The Government will also provide an update on the overall infrastructure investment pipeline and on other progress since the publication of the National Infrastructure Plan 2011 including updating the infrastructure performance and cost indicators.
	Where construction work has begun on significant projects, we would expect to reflect this in the update where it is relevant. We would also expect to note significant contracts that have been agreed as part of the update where appropriate. However as the majority of UK infrastructure is privately funded, contract information is not always available and commercial sensitivities will need to be considered.

Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the paperwork required in order to make a successful application to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.

Edward Vaizey: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
	The claim forms used in the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme have changed little under the revised scheme which came into effect on 1 October 2012. The scheme has been designed in consultation with a range of faith and heritage organisations who expressed a clear preference for making the scheme as clear and easy as possible to use. We are starting to receive feedback on the form and will be working with colleagues and stakeholders to ensure it meets needs. There will be regular reviews of the scheme to ensure that it is operating well.

Non-domestic Rates

David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plans to extend small business rate relief beyond March 2013.

David Gauke: The permanent small business rate relief (SBRR) scheme is ongoing. This offers up to 50% rate relief to more than 500,000 small businesses. It is only the temporary doubling of this relief (the SBRR holiday) that is due to end in March 2013.
	The future of the temporary doubling will be considered in the autumn statement process. The Government are committed to support business, but we would need to balance any further business rates support against the tough decisions needed to reduce the deficit.

Pay: North West

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effect on consumer spending and the wider economy of his proposals to introduce regional pay in the public sector in (a) Cumbria and (b) the north-west.

Danny Alexander: At the autumn statement of 29 November 2011, Official Report, columns 799-810, the Government asked the independent pay review bodies to consider how public sector pay can be made more responsive to local labour markets. The majority of pay review bodies have now provided their reports to Government—and when the final report has been received, the Government will publish and respond.

VAT: Energy

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission on maintaining the reduced rate of VAT applicable to energy saving materials.

David Gauke: The Government have now responded to the European Commission's reasoned opinion and intend to defend the current reduced rate of VAT on energy saving materials.

Welfare Tax Credits

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been asked to repay over £1,000 in tax credits by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: Information on the number of tax credits awards where there is an overpayment at the end of each year, to be recovered either directly or by reducing an ongoing award, is published in the HMRC publication “Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards. Supplement on Payments”. These publications are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/final-award-main.htm
	The number of awards with overpayments of £1,000 or more for each of the last five available years has been reproduced in the following table.
	
		
			 Finalised awards overpaid by £1,000 or more at 5 April each year 
			  Thousand 
			 2006-07 287 
			 2007-08 265 
			 2008-09 250 
			 2009-10 347 
			 2010-11 385

Welfare Tax Credits: EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many non-UK EEA nationals have received tax credits in each of the last five years; and at what cost to the public purse.

David Gauke: The information requested is not available. Nationality is not a condition of entitlement to the child and working tax credits.
	However, tax credits are intended to provide support to families with children in the UK and to those in low-paid work here. As a result, eligibility for tax credits depends on the claimants being present and ordinarily resident in the UK. In addition, child tax credit claimants must also have a right to reside in the UK.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Chemicals: Health Hazards

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to reduce environmental exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: Reducing environmental exposure to potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is not straightforward. Both naturally occurring and synthetic substances may have such properties. Some EDCs may have beneficial health or societal applications. These include the phytoestrogens present in foods such as soya and ethinyl-oestradiol, an active ingredient of the contraceptive pill.
	Research has indicated that ethinyl-oestradiol and natural human hormones via sewage treatment effluent can have negative impacts on fish in UK freshwaters. In response, the Department collaborated with the Environment Agency, Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the water industry in the Endocrine Disruption Demonstration Programme (EDDP) from 2006 to 2010. The EDDP aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of conventional and “advanced” sewage treatment in removing these chemicals. The results demonstrated that the improved processes put in place over the last 15 years or so to meet stringent ammonia standards have reduced the risks from endocrine disrupting substances.
	DEFRA continues to address this issue with the Environment Agency and other partners, bringing together emerging science and environmental evidence to determine what further actions are needed.
	Some suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals, including several pesticides, are subject to long-standing regulations because of specific toxic effects, which may be due to endocrine disrupting activity. There is also a ban on antifouling paints based on tributyltin (TBT) compounds that were found to cause significant endocrine disrupting effects in some marine organisms.
	There are longstanding provisions under EU legislation to subject potentially dangerous chemicals, including endocrine disrupters, to a risk assessment. Where risks are identified, European-wide measures can then be taken to control them. For example, this has been done with the chemical nonylphenol and the flame retardants octa- and penta- BDE (bromodiphenyl ether).
	EDCs can also be subject to the authorisation procedures under the EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation, which aims to substitute hazardous chemicals unless there are good socio-economic reasons to justify their continued use. EDCs are also controlled by EU legislation on plant protection and biocidol products. DEFRA is actively collaborating with other Government Departments and agencies in the development of EU regulatory criteria for EDCs. We are also working in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to produce new scientifically-based test methods for the identification of these substances.

COPHES

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department is part of the Consortium to Perform Human Bio-Monitoring on a European Scale project; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA is not part of the Consortium to Perform Human Bio-Monitoring on a European Scale project (COPHES). The Health Protection Agency is the UK lead for COPHES.

Food: Waste Disposal

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the development of anaerobic digestion.

Richard Benyon: The Government's policy was set out in the Anaerobic Digestion Strategy and Action Plan, published in June 2011. By more efficient capture and treatment, anaerobic digestion can help us avoid the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the disposal of organic waste. It can also recover energy from waste and produce valuable bio-fertilisers.
	The strategy and action plan was developed with a broad range of stakeholders and identifies 56 separate actions to help overcome barriers to the sector's development. We published a progress report on its delivery in July 2012, which can be found on DEFRA's website.
	The anaerobic digestion sector has continued to expand rapidly since the strategy was published. There are currently 82 operational anaerobic digestion plants that treat waste and farm feedstocks in the UK. This represents an increase of over a third since the strategy and action plan was produced, and at least double the installed capacity.

Incinerators

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many energy from waste plants there were in England on 31 December in each year since 1997; and where each such plant was located.

Richard Benyon: According to the latest information available, there are 23 energy from waste plants treating municipal solid waste currently operating in England. These are all based on conventional thermal treatment, apart from one (on the Isle of Wight) which is gasification-based. A list with further details of their location and year of operational commencement has been placed in the Library of the House.

Phytophthora Ramorum

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect on the native British larch of Phytophthora ramorum;
	(2)  what plans he has to introduce an import ban on young larch trees from countries where Phytophthora ramorum is active in the native woodlands;
	(3)  what plans his Department has to bring under control the damage to the British larch caused by Phytophthora ramorum.

David Heath: Phytophthora ramorum has been found in European larch (Larix decidua) and hybrid larch (Larix x eurolepis). Japanese larch is much more widespread in commercial plantings and hence has been the species in which most infection is found.
	Under the five-year, DEFRA-funded, Phytophthora Disease Management Programme led by the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), which started in April 2009, large areas of Japanese larch and other larch species have been felled. An external review of the programme has recently commenced, to provide recommendations on future policy for control of Phytophthora ramorum and P. kernoviae.
	The objective of felling these trees is to reduce levels of inoculum and thus to try to minimise any further spread of P. ramorum and the damage it causes.
	The Forestry Commission and the Food and Environment Research Agency carry out research into this pathogen under the programme, to increase understanding of the epidemiology and how to restrict further spread. This will enable us to pass on advice and guidance to growers on its management and means of preventing or limiting its impact and spread.
	Phytophthora ramorum infection in larch trees has only been found in the United Kingdom and in Ireland. There are restrictions on imports of host plants from other EU countries and countries outside the EU; should infected larch be found in third countries it would be proposed for addition to the list of host plants under the Plant Health (Phytophthora ramorum) (England) Order 2004.

Plastic Bags

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he made on reducing plastic bag usage via retailers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Richard Benyon: Eight billion single-use carrier bags were issued by supermarket retailers in 2011, compared to 7.5 billion in 2010. This represents a 5.4% increase.
	However, there has been an overall reduction of 35% in their distribution by supermarket retailers since the baseline year of 2006.

Shrimps

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which the invasive shrimp, Dikerogammarus haemobaphes, has become established in UK waterways;
	(2)  what research his Department commissioned on the effect on UK waterways of the invasive shrimp, Dikerogammarus haemobaphes; and what information it holds about such research being conducted by other bodies.

Richard Benyon: On 26 September, the invasive shrimp Dikerogammarus haemobaphes was confirmed as having been found in samples collected from the River Severn at Bevere (near Worcester) and Tewkesbury. The Environment Agency has initiated a sampling programme to assess the distribution of this species within the midlands region. Populations have now also been confirmed in the Worcester and Birmingham canal and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal. DEFRA immediately commissioned a risk assessment for Dikerogammarus haemobaphesto assess the potential impact of this species in Great Britain. The results are expected imminently.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Electrical Safety

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by what means his Department collates figures on the number of (a) domestic deaths and injuries caused by electrical fires and (b) domestic deaths and injuries through electrocution; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Department collates data relating to fires but does not collate data relating to electrocutions.
	Fire and Rescue Authority records of incidents attended are transmitted to the Department electronically. Numbers of fatal and non-fatal casualties arising from electrical fires in dwellings can be found in table 11 of the Department's annual analyses of fires, causes and casualties. This is available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/firestatsgb201011

Housing: Construction

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many dwellings with approved planning applications remain to be developed.

Nicholas Boles: The number of dwellings in England with planning permission where development has yet to start is estimated as around 225,800 units as at 30 June 2012. This figure excludes most small schemes with fewer than 10 units.
	The source of the data is Glenigan:
	http://www.glenigan.com/
	a private company which supplies the Homes and Communities Agency with information on the status of planning applications for internal use. More detailed information is available commercially from Glenigan.
	We are undertaking a series of initiatives to help kick-start development on stalled sites, including the £570 million Get Britain Building fund and our reforms to unlock economically unrealistic Section 106 agreements.
	These are part of our broader policies to support house building as outlined in the written ministerial statement of 6 September 2012, Official Report, columns 29-34WS, and November 2011’s Housing Strategy.

Internet

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department logs the websites visited by civil servants, political advisers and Ministers using departmental computers.

Brandon Lewis: As indicated by my recent answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 220W, the Department does not hold such information on such individuals.

Local Government

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the proportion of local government procurement that is sourced from local businesses;
	(2)  what information his Department holds on the proportion of local government procurement of food that is supplied by local businesses.

Brandon Lewis: The Department does not hold this information centrally.
	Procurement in local government is a matter for local discretion but the Government are committed to encouraging a more open and level playing field for small and medium enterprises and has taken steps to improve opportunities for them.
	The Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency encourages local authorities to publish copies of contracts, tenders and expenditure over £500 (including costs, supplier and transaction information). By increasing transparency in local authority spending, citizens and others are now much better placed to hold their local authorities to account in this regard, including on the proportion of contracts being awarded to small firms in their area.

Local Government Finance

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will request the London borough of Barnet to comply with its external auditor's recommendations and produce a stakeholder engagement plan for its transformation programme.

Brandon Lewis: How the London borough of Barnet responds to any recommendations from their auditor is a local matter. An auditor has powers to act when he has serious concerns about a council's actions, including qualifying the council's accounts, issuing a public interest report which the full council would be required to consider, and even, in the case of unlawful actions, seeking a judicial review.

Local Government Finance

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what communication he or officials in his Department have had with the London borough of Barnet regarding the procurement practices of that authority.

Brandon Lewis: There have been no recent communications between the Secretary of State and Barnet council regarding its procurement practices.
	The Department does not routinely collect information on communications between officials and individual local authorities.
	As a matter of public record, in a speech in 2011, the Secretary of State made a reference to procurement practices in that local authority. The speech is online at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/speeches/corporate/charteredfinanceannualconf2011

Local Government Finance

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether it is his policy that outsourcing of regulatory services by local authorities should be subject to consultation.

Brandon Lewis: This Government believe that local authorities are best placed to decide how they fulfil their statutory functions. As locally accountable bodies, they have strong incentives to consult local people, and are under some specific duties to do so. The duty of best value, introduced by section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999, requires authorities to:
	“make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness”.
	The legislation further requires that they consult local people on how they should fulfil this duty.

Local Government Finance

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he has taken to ensure that local authorities which commission regulatory services such as planning, licensing and environmental health from third parties ensure that the public are protected, with particular reference to circumstances where third party suppliers fail to meet their obligations.

Brandon Lewis: Councils retain ultimate accountability for ensuring that the services for which they have statutory responsibility are provided. Where they contract services out to third parties, they need to put arrangements in place to ensure that those parties can fulfil their requirements.

Local Government Finance

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to use Labour Force Survey data rather than the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings when calculating the labour costs adjustment component of the area cost adjustment.

Brandon Lewis: Data used in calculating the area costs adjustment will be set out in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2013-14.

Local Government Finance

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the ability of those local authorities with lower grant dependency to continue to raise resources locally in the current economic climate prior to the introduction of four block model dampening arrangements.

Brandon Lewis: Proposals for approaches to floor damping were set out in the recent technical consultation on business rates retention, and we are currently considering responses. A copy of the consultation can be found on our website at:
	http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/brr/sumcon/index.htm
	From April 2013 we will be replacing the current complex formula grant regime with a business rates retention scheme. Our reforms to local government finance are fundamentally about encouraging local authorities to promote local growth. By contrast the local government finance system encouraged a sense of dependency; councils have competed with themselves in a race to the bottom—to present themselves as more deprived than their neighbours in order to get more handouts from Whitehall.

Non-domestic Rates

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of business rates collected by his Department is collected from the retail industry.

Brandon Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.

Non-domestic Rates

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the economic effect of the business rates transitional arrangements on areas where rents and rates are falling.

Brandon Lewis: A full impact assessment for the 2010 business rates transitional arrangement scheme was published by the Department in November 2009. Information on individual business rate bills is not held centrally.

Non-domestic Rates

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the number of shops that have shut down following the increase in business rates in April 2012.

Brandon Lewis: No such figure has been estimated. Business rates are tied to RPI inflation; this means there has been no real-terms increase in bills.
	I would observe that the coalition Government have taken a series of steps to help with business rates. We have:
	Doubled small business rate relief scheme, to help half a million small firms. For two and a half years from October 2010, small firms are receiving 100% rate relief (i.e. pay no business rates at all) on properties up to £6,000 rateable value, and a tapered rate relief from £6,000 to £12,000. An estimated 330,000 small firms are paying no rates at all as a result.
	Introduced a deferral scheme to allow businesses to deter payment of 60% of the RPI increase in their 2012-13 rates bills, over three years: providing practical support and helping cash flow at a time of (then) higher inflation.
	Scrapped Labour's ports tax—stopping retrospective business rates on firms in ports that threatened the whole export and manufacturing sector. £175 million of unfair rate demands have been cleared.
	Made it easier for small firms to get small business rate relief to which they are entitled. Our changes in the Localism Act allow all eligible ratepayers automatically to receive the small business multiplier, and we have removed the legal red tape requiring ratepayers to fill in paperwork to claim the relief.
	Given local councils new powers via the Localism Act to levy local business rate discounts, for example, to support local shops, community pubs, new business parks or vital local facilities.
	Introduced 24 new Enterprise Zones across the country, which offer a 100% business rate discount worth up to approximately £275,000 over a five year period.
	The Local Government Finance Bill will introduce the local retention of business rates, giving councils new incentives to support local firms and local shops. The Government's response to the Mary Portas review also outlines a series of initiatives being undertaken to support local high streets.

Planning Permission

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning applications he has called in since May 2010.

Nicholas Boles: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) on 18 October 2012, Official Report, column 375W.

Property Development

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many square metres of approved planning applications remain to be developed for (a) office, (b) industrial and (c) retail use.

Nicholas Boles: The area of land with planning permission remaining to be developed for office, industrial or retail use is not available centrally.

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff in his Department work on delivering the Regional Growth Fund.

Mark Prisk: There are 17 full-time equivalent staff in the Department for Communities and Local Government allocated to monitoring Regional Growth Fund projects on the ground. They are supported by DCLG finance and growth policy teams.
	DCLG works closely and effectively with the fund secretariat in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills who administer Regional Growth Fund and include accountants, economists, policy and communications specialists and administrative staff.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Advanced Language Solutions

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Attorney-General what the results were of the checks carried out by Advanced Language Solutions (ALS) at his request to ensure that all of the interpreters used by ALS have been security vetted.

Oliver Heald: Advanced Language Solutions (ALS) has completed its review and has provided assurances to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that a full audit trail is now held in respect of all 1,100 interpreters on its list and that all vetting information has been fully verified. The vetting status of 208 interpreters used on CPS work between February and August 2012 has been verified by ALS as part of the review. The vetting status of a further 28 interpreters who were used on CPS work between February and August 2012 was unable to be verified as part of the review, and these interpreters were subsequently removed from the ALS supplier list.

Crime: Disability

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Attorney-General what recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions about the record of the Crown Prosecution Service on prosecuting disability hate crimes.

Dominic Grieve: I have not had any recent discussions with the Director of Public Prosecutions on this matter. However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) treats disability hate crime very seriously and will prosecute whenever possible. The volume of disability hate crime (DHC) cases referred to the CPS by the police for a charging decision fell in 2011-12 to 643 from 690 in 2010-11, but this is against a background of a continuing fall in crime overall. The number of convictions rose from 141 of concluded cases in 2007-08 to 480 in 2011-12. However, the conviction rate has remained at around 77% of concluded cases.

Crimes of Violence

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Attorney-General what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Director of Public Prosecutions and (b) Secretary of State for the Home Department on prosecutions of violence against women and girls.

Oliver Heald: In May 2012, the Attorney-General discussed violence against women and girls (VAWG) prosecutions with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), noting the improvement in CPS VAWG prosecutions, the continuation of specialist prosecutors, and the commitment to continue with this progress.
	I also attend the Inter-Ministerial Group on VAWG, which is chaired by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May). This group monitors and discusses progress against the VAWG action plan, which includes actions on the prosecutions of VAWG.

Cybercrime

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Attorney-General what recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on the prosecution of crimes committed online.

Dominic Grieve: The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has advised me at a recent routine business meeting of the work he is doing in respect of prosecuting offences committed in the context of online social media. The DPP has held a number of roundtable meetings with interested parties to discuss prosecution policy in this area. The discussions will be used to inform the preparation of interim guidelines for prosecutors on social media cases. The guidelines will be used to assist prosecutors when deciding whether criminal charges should be brought. There will be a public consultation before the final guidelines are published. Certain offences, for example the publication of the name of a victim of a sexual offence, require my consent to prosecution; this therefore allows me to consider how such crimes are being prosecuted.

Offences against Children

Amber Rudd: To ask the Attorney-General how many prosecutions there have been for under-age sex in the last five years.

Dominic Grieve: Records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted. Offences relating to "under-age" sex are taken to include Section 9 Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sexual activity with a child under 16 years of age), Section 16 Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sexual activity with a child under 18 years of age where there has been an abuse of trust) and Section 25 Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sexual activity with a child under 18 years of age when the perpetrator is a family member) but are exclusive of non-consensual sexual offences including rape.
	During the last five years the number of these offences was as follows:
	
		
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 S9 SOA 2003 2,344 2,709 2,942 3,388 3,076 
			 S16 SOA 2003 86 70 73 95 77 
			 S25 SOA 2003 564 615 688 830 624

Police Custody

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Attorney-General what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service in cases involving deaths in police custody or after contact with the police.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has specific arrangements in place for dealing with cases involving deaths in police custody or after contact with the police. To ensure consistency and to build expertise to deal with this challenging caseload, the CPS centralised the handling of such matters to the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division (SCCTD). Only very experienced senior lawyers are specifically designated to review death in custody cases in SCCTD. The reviews carried out by the senior lawyer are examined by the line manager (the "Unit Head") and then by the Head of Division (or Deputy). All such cases are then referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the end of the review for consideration. In any case where the decision is not to proceed, and if the DPP is not satisfied that it is "plain beyond doubt" that there is no case to answer, then experienced external counsel will be instructed to advise. This is in accordance with the recommendations from the Attorney-General's "Review of the Role and Practices of the Crown Prosecution Service in Cases Arising from a Death in Custody" 2003.

WALES

Public Expenditure

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his latest estimate is of the level of public expenditure per head of population in Wales.

David Jones: Total identifiable public expenditure per head of the population in Wales was £10,017 in 2010-11 (the latest year available). Total identifiable public expenditure per head in Wales was 13% above the average for the United Kingdom as a whole.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Homicide

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Justice, (b) Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and (c) Police Ombudsman regarding the murder of six men at O'Toole's Bar (The Heights), Loughinisland, County Down on 18 June 1994; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: I have not had any discussions with the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), Chief Constable of the PSNI or Police Ombudsman on the murder of six men at O'Toole's Bar (The Heights), Loughinisland, County Down on 18 June 1994.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Land

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, how many acres of land are encumbered by chancel repair liability by the merging of tithes with the land either by deed or under section 1 of the Tithe Act 1839.

Tony Baldry: The Church Commissioners do not hold detailed information on the total amount of land that is subject to chancel repair liability. However, the Law Commission’s 1985 report “Property Law: Liability for Chancel Repairs” estimated that around 3.75 million acres in total carried chancel repair liability. It is thought that some 1.5 million acres of this land is land in which tithe rent charges have been merged.

PRIME MINISTER

Conservative Party: Conferences

John Mann: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish the names of each individual and organisation he met in an official capacity at the 2012 Conservative Party conference.

David Cameron: Details of my meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis. Details can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website.

Members: Correspondence

Tim Loughton: To ask the Prime Minister when he intends to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham of 9 July 2012 regarding the visit of the Dalai Lama.

David Cameron: As far as I am aware, my Office has not received the letter.

Members: Pensions

John Spellar: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has had recent meetings or communications with officials in the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority regarding the remuneration and pensions of hon. Members.

David Cameron: Details of my meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis. Details can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website.

USA

John Spellar: To ask the Prime Minister who accompanied him on his trip to the US on 13 March 2012.

David Cameron: Details of ministerial overseas travel are published quarterly.

INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS AUTHORITY COMMITTEE

Treasury

Bob Russell: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, on how many occasions since 1 January 2012 representations have been made by (a) Ministers and (b) officials in HM Treasury to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority; what the subject of each such representation was; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	Letter from Paula Higson, dated 14 September 2012
	As Acting Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking about representations by Ministers and by officials at HM Treasury to IPSA.
	IPSA Board members and officials regularly meet, correspond and have discussions with a range of interested parties, including ministers and government officials. I do not intend to provide details of individual meetings or discussions as that would be likely to restrict the future flow of information and advice.
	Details of submissions to IPSA consultations are available online at:
	http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk/transparency/Pages/Consultations.aspx

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms she plans to put in place to judge the success or failure of community triggers in tackling antisocial behaviour.

Jeremy Browne: We are working with a number of leading local areas, including Manchester, Brighton and Hove, Richmond, and West Lindsey and Boston, to test the community trigger on the ground before we introduce legislation.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Merseyside

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been (a) applied for and (b) made in Merseyside in each of the last 10 years.

Jeremy Browne: The number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) applied for, and the number issued, at all courts in the Merseyside Criminal Justice System (CJS) area in each year between 2001 and 2010 (the latest year for which data are currently available) can be viewed in the table. Data for 2011 are due to be published on 18 October 2012.
	
		
			 Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued at all courts in the Merseyside Criminal Justice System (CJS) area as reported to the Ministry of Justice(1) by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2010 
			 ASBOs 
			 Merseyside Criminal Justice System area 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Applied for(2) 7 22 41 41 66 44 52 90 90 97 
			 Of which:           
			 Made(3) 7 22 40 41 64 44 52 90 88 97 
			 Refused 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Issued on conviction(4) n/a 0 4 55 64 50 35 27 26 46 
			 Total ASBOs issued 7 22 44 96 128 94 87 117 114 143 
			 n/a = Not applicable—see footnote 4. (1) Prior to the creation of the Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007, numbers of ASBOs issued were reported to Home Office by the Court Service. (2) ASBOs can be issued by courts following an application by a relevant body, these include the police, local authorities and registered social landlords. (3) Includes ASBOs issued on application by magistrates courts acting in their civil capacity and county courts, which were introduced under section 1 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and became available on 1 April 1999. (4) ASBOs made following conviction for a relevant criminal offence at the Crown court and at magistrates courts (acting in their criminal capacity), which were introduced under the Police Reform Act 2002 and became available on 2 December 2002. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Antisocial Behaviour: Liverpool

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to introduce community triggers to tackle antisocial behaviour in Liverpool.

Jeremy Browne: Our proposed antisocial behaviour reforms, including the community trigger, will apply across England and we are also working with the Welsh Government to implement them in Wales.

Antisocial Behaviour: Merseyside

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of people reporting antisocial behaviour to police in Merseyside have done so on more than one occasion.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office does not collect this information in the format requested.

Antisocial Behaviour: Merseyside

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has put in place to ensure that the police identify victims of antisocial behaviour; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of services for such victims provided by Merseyside police.

Jeremy Browne: The Government’s recent White Paper, “Putting victims first”, made clear that the police and their partners should focus their response to antisocial behaviour on the needs of victims, and highlighted Home Office work with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and eight police forces to test new ways of identifying and supporting those at risk of harm.
	Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) recently reported that police forces in England and Wales—including Merseyside—had improved their overall response to victims of antisocial behaviour since 2010.

Asylum

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are currently seeking asylum in the UK, by nationality.

Mark Harper: The number of asylum applications received is published on an annual and quarterly basis. Latest figures are available in Tables “as.01” and “as.01.q” of the release Immigration Statistics, April to June 2012 Second edition, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q2-2012/

Asylum: Deportation

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers have been deported to (a) Iran and (b) Iraq in each of the last 24 months.

Mark Harper: For the purposes of answering this question it has been assumed that the question refers to the number of enforced removals and voluntary departures from the UK.
	Most illegal immigrants are removed under administrative or illegal entry powers from the UK rather than being deported. Deportations are a specific subset of removals which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good.
	The following table shows the total number of asylum cases removed or voluntarily departed to Iran and Iraq from the UK in each of the last 18 months and is a subset of Home Office published statistics.
	It is not possible within these figures to say at what stage in the asylum process individuals have reached at the time of their removal, including whether their claim has failed at that point, as those departing voluntarily can do so at any stage without necessarily notifying the UK Border Agency.
	
		
			 Monthly removals and voluntary departures of asylum cases(1) to Iran and Iraq(2), January 2011 to June 2012(3) 
			 Number 
			  Asylum enforced removals to Iran Asylum voluntary departures to Iran Asylum enforced removals to Iraq Asylum voluntary departures to Iraq 
			 2011     
			 January 2 10 3 16 
			 February 8 10 8 42 
			 March 7 7 17 43 
		
	
	
		
			 April 7 5 10 2 
			 May 3 5 1 7 
			 June 5 5 12 28 
			 July 4 6 2 14 
			 August 0 8 2 28 
			 September 8 9 5 28 
			 October 0 14 2 29 
			 November 5 5 3 19 
			 December 4 2 1 17 
			      
			 2012     
			 January 2 2 0 26 
			 February 1 1 0 38 
			 March 3 4 2 34 
			 April 1 8 1 35 
			 May 1 7 3 33 
			 June 1 7 3 23 
			 (1) Removals and voluntary departures recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (2) Destination as recorded on source database. (3) Provisional figures. Figures will under record due to data cleansing and data matching exercises that take place after the extracts are taken 
		
	
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK within Immigration Statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures by destination are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: April to June 2012, tables rv.06 and rv.06.q, from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Badgers

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussion she has had with the chief constables of (a) Avon and Somerset and (b) Gloucestershire on the cost and operational capability of policing the proposed badger cull in those police authority areas.

Damian Green: The Home Office is in regular discussions with Avon and Somerset Constabulary as well as Gloucestershire Constabulary about any policing implications in relation to the badger cull and associated costs.

Borders: Personal Records

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the e-Borders programme to cover all international travellers using all UK ports; if she will publish a business plan; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The e-Borders programme is an operational system and each day helps to protect the UK against terrorist attack, serious crime and abuses of the immigration system.
	The UK Border Agency reached the milestone of 100% information on routes from outside the EU in April 2012 and receives a substantial amount of information on EU routes. This is achieved through discussions with other Governments and the carriers themselves.
	The Home Office business plan was issued in May 2012 and can be found at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/corporate-publications/business-plan/business-plan-2012-15/

Burglary

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded incidents of domestic burglary there were in each year since 1994.

Jeremy Browne: The available information relates to offences of burglary in a dwelling recorded by the police in England and Wales and is given in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of offences of burglary in a dwelling recorded by the police in England and Wales 
			  Burglary in a dwelling 
			 1994 678,882 
			 1995 643,645 
			 1996 602,128 
			 1997 519,265 
			 1997-08 501,593 
			 1998-09 (old rules) 472,960 
			 1998-09 (new rules)(1) 473,349 
			 1999-2000 442,602 
			 2000-01 402,984 
			 2001-02 430,347 
			 2002-03(2) 437,583 
			 2003-04 402,345 
			 2004-05 321,507 
			 2005-06 300,517 
			 2006-07 292,260 
			 2007-08 280,696 
			 2008-09 284,431 
			 2009-10 268,606 
			 2010-11 258,165 
			 2011-12 245,317 
			 (1) Changes to Home Office Counting Rules from 1 April 1998 mean that numbers of offences before and after this date are not directly comparable. (2) The introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002 means that figures before and after this date are not directly comparable. Source: Police Recorded Crime HO/ONS

Burglary: Self-defence

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many homeowners have been charged after defending their property against burglars in each year since 1994; and in respect of what offences such charges were brought in each year;
	(2)  how many homeowners were arrested when defending their property against burglars in each year since 1994; and for what offences such arrests were made in each year.

Jeremy Browne: The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
	The arrests collection held by the Home Office relates to notifiable offences, aggregated to offence group level only, for example violence against the person and burglary. Information on the individual circumstances of arrests is not reported to the Home Office.
	It is not possible to match the arrests data to any subsequent outcomes.

Chernobyl: Children

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of the gratis visa scheme for the Chernobyl children was in each of the last 10 years.

Mark Harper: Prior to April 2011 the UK Border Agency had no “gratis reason” code on its database specifically for Chernobyl visa applications. To provide the information requested would require the examination of individual records, and incur disproportionate costs.
	The cost of the gratis visa scheme for the Chernobyl children in the financial year 2011-12 was £130,000.

Childbirth: Foreign Nationals

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) number and (b) proportion of births was where (i) one and (ii) both parents were foreign-born in (A) London and (B) each London borough within Greater London in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson dated October 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on what the (a) number and (b) proportion of births was where (i) one or (ii) both parents were foreign-born in (A) London and (B) each London Borough within Greater London in the most recent year for which figures are available. (123519)
	Figures for live births where one or both parents are non-UK born have been compiled from birth registration data. The table shows the number and proportion of live births in 2011 in the areas requested, according to registration data. Information on country of birth of parents is provided by the informant at registration.
	
		
			 Number and proportion of births in London, where one or both parents are non-UK born, 2011 
			 Area of usual residence of mother Number of births where only one parent is foreign born Percentage of births where only one parent is foreign born Number of births where both parents are foreign born Percentage of births where both parents are foreign born 
			 London 27,403 20.6 58,904 44.3 
			      
			 Inner London 12,854 23.8 24,924 46.2 
			 Camden 746 23.9 1,437 46.1 
			 Hackney and City of London 1,443 32.4 1,574 35.4 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 619 22.5 1,145 41.6 
			 Haringey 1,005 23.8 2,012 47.6 
			 Islington 716 23.8 1,107 36.8 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 492 22.5 1,235 56.5 
			 Lambeth 1,205 25.2 1,924 40.2 
			 Lewisham 1,098 22.4 1,990 40.6 
			 Newham 1,282 20.2 4,087 64.5 
			 Southwark 1,194 23.5 2,305 45.3 
			 Tower Hamlets 1,055 23.2 2,491 54.8 
			 Wandsworth 1,331 24.3 1,841 33.6 
			 Westminster 668 22.0 1,776 58.4 
			      
			 Outer London 14,549 18.4 33,980 43.0 
			 Barking and Dagenham 602 16.3 1,859 50.4 
			 Barnet 1,156 21.0 2,407 43.7 
			 Bexley 372 11.7 707 22.3 
			 Brent 997 19.1 3,341 63.9 
			 Bromley 682 16.5 727 17.6 
			 Croydon 1,136 19.9 2,112 36.9 
			 Ealing 1,013 17.5 3,449 59.4 
			 Enfield 974 19.9 2,284 46.6 
			 Greenwich 817 17.9 1,999 43.8 
			 Harrow 615 17.7 2,004 57.8 
			 Havering 342 11.8 424 14.6 
			 Hillingdon 719 16.5 1,876 43.1 
			 Hounslow 769 16.9 2,472 54.2 
			 Kingston upon Thames 451 19.7 684 29.9 
			 Merton 653 18.5 1,634 46.2 
			 Redbridge 1,054 22.9 2,233 48.5 
			 Richmond upon Thames 750 25.6 641 21.8 
		
	
	
		
			 Sutton 330 13.8 759 27.5 
			 Waltham Forest 1,067 22.2 2,368 49.2 
			 Notes: 1. For more information on parent's country of birth please see: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/parents--country-of-birth--england-and-wales/index.html 2. The number of live births to one non-UK born parent includes sole registered live births (births registered by the mother alone, where information on the father was not recorded) where the mother is non-UK born. Some births sole registered by UK born mothers may have non-UK born fathers but it is not possible to quantify the number as no information is available on the father. Source: Office for National Statistics

Domestic Violence

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research her Department is undertaking into domestic violence among (a) migrant families and (b) families where one spouse is a migrant.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office is not undertaking any research into domestic violence among (a) migrant families and (b) families where one spouse is a migrant.

Domestic Violence

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research her Department has undertaken into domestic violence in South Asian communities in the UK; and what the findings were.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office has not conducted specific research on domestic violence in South Asian communities in the UK.

Domestic Violence: Greater London

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of domestic violence in (a) north-west London and (b) Greater London.

Jeremy Browne: The Government's Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan sets out our steps to tackle all forms of violence against women, including measures to reduce domestic violence, such as establishing domestic homicide reviews on a statutory basis and ring-fencing funding of nearly £40 million until 2015 to provide specialist domestic and sexual violence services. This includes funding independent domestic violence advisers and multi-agency risk assessment conference coordinator posts across London.

Drugs: Misuse

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people arrested for (a) possession with intent to supply a controlled drug, (b) supplying a controlled drug, (c) being concerned in a supply of a controlled drug, (d) offering to supply a controlled drug, (e) being concerned in an offer to supply a controlled drug, (f) production of a controlled drug and (g) being concerned in the production of a controlled drug were subsequently (i) charged with the offence and (ii) not charged with the offence in (A) 2009, (B) 2010 and (C) 2011;
	(2)  how many people arrested for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug were subsequently charged with possession of a controlled drug in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Jeremy Browne: The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
	The arrests collection held by the Home Office relates to notifiable offences, aggregated to offence group level only, for example violence against the person and drug offences. As such, it is not possible to separately identify arrests for the possession or supply of specific drugs.
	It is not possible to match the aggregate data to any subsequent outcomes.

Entry Clearances

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Tier 2 (General) work visas were issued for occupations in (a) accommodation and food service activities and (b) human health and social work activities in the year ended in June (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012.

Mark Harper: The information available, from different IT systems, relates to total grants of Tier 2 (General) visas, and to the number of certificates of sponsorship used as part of visa applications.
	There were a total of 7,746 Tier 2 (General) visas granted (for all industry sectors) in the year ending June 2011; and the corresponding figure for the year ending June 2012 was 8,927.
	There were 1,718 certificates of sponsorship for the industry sector “Accommodation and Food Service Activities” used in Tier 2 visa applications in the year ending June 2011; and the corresponding figure for the year ending June 2012 was 438.
	There were 1,957 certificates of sponsorship for the industry sector “Human Health and Social Work Activities” used in Tier 2 visa applications in the year ending June 2011; and the corresponding figure for the year ending June 2012 was 1,635.
	Data relating to grants of visas by Tier, and relating to certificates of sponsorship used in visa applications are published in tables be.04q and cs.02q respectively of the quarterly Home Office statistical release Immigration Statistics, available from the Home Office's Science, Research and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Entry Clearances

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for Tier 1 visas made before the closure of that route in April 2012 are still being processed.

Mark Harper: holding answer 19 October 2012
	The data requested are not held in a format compatible with National Statistics protocols, or produced as part of the UK Border Agency's standard reports. However the UK Border Agency publishes immigration statistics on a quarterly and annual basis, a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House.

European Police College

Mark Reckless: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many conferences, courses and seminars hosted by the European Police College civil servants from her Department have attended since 2001; and at what cost to the public purse.

Damian Green: This information is not held centrally.

Firearms: Hampshire

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearm and shotgun certificate holders in the Hampshire police force area have not been able to renew such certificates before their expiry date in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Damian Green: Figures from the National Firearms Licensing Management System shows that, in 2011 in Hampshire, 1,041 persons held firearm certificates and 4,803 persons held shotgun certificates that were renewed after the expiry date.
	In 2012 (up to 15 October), there were 289 persons who held firearm certificates and 2,145 persons who held shotgun certificates that were renewed after the expiry date.

Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value of funds confiscated from prosecuted traffickers was in each of the last three years; and what proportion of such funds was awarded to victims as compensation.

Jeremy Browne: holding answer 17 October 2012
	The value of confiscation orders enforced against those convicted for human trafficking offences in England and Wales in each of the last three years, as recorded on the Joint Asset Recovery Database, is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009-10 146,734.06 
			 2010-11 293,329.05 
			 2011-12 184,645.12 
		
	
	It should be noted, however, that a human trafficker may also be charged and prosecuted for a different offence, such as prostitution or money laundering, which could incur a confiscation order.
	The proportion of such funds awarded to victims as compensation is not recorded centrally.

Immigration

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-UK EU nationals have entered the UK to seek employment with dependants who are (a) EU nationals, (b) UK nationals and (c) non-EU nationals in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated October 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many non-UK EU nationals have entered the UK to seek employment with dependants who are a) EU Nationals, b) UK nationals and c) non-EU nationals in each of the last five years (123460).
	The Office for National Statistics produces estimates of Long Term International Migration (LTIM), primarily based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS). The IPS is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics.
	The IPS does not collect any specific information on dependants of migrants from respondents.

Police: Lambeth

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many Metropolitan police officers there were serving in Lambeth in May (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003, (e) 2004, (f) 2005, (g) 2006, (h) 2007, (i) 2008, (j) 2009, (k) 2010, (l) 2011 and (m) 2012;
	(2)  how many police positions in Lambeth remained vacant in May (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003, (e) 2004, (f) 2005, (g) 2006, (h) 2007, (i) 2008, (j) 2009, (k) 2010, (l) 2011 and (m) 2012.

Damian Green: Figures are collected by the Home Office for the number of police officers within Lambeth (full-time equivalent) as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2011 and are given in the following table. Figures prior to 2002-03 were not collected centrally by the Home Office. Figures at London borough level ceased to be collected from 2011-12.
	
		
			 Number of police officers in Lambeth, as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2011(1,2.3,4) 
			 March each year: Number 
			 2003 968 
			 2004 941 
			 2005 984 
			 2006 994 
			 2007 953 
			 2008 952 
			 2009 992 
			 2010 1,042 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 1,004 
			 (1) These figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Figures include those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) Figures prior to 2002-03 for the number of police officers by basic command unit were not collected centrally by the Home Office. (4) Figures at London borough level ceased to be collected from 2011-12. 
		
	
	Figures on the number of police positions in Lambeth which remained vacant in May 2000 to 2012 are not collected centrally by the Home Office.

Police: Overtime

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the total cost to the public purse of police overtime in England and Wales was in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the average number of overtime hours worked by police officers was in England and Wales in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how much on average was paid per police officer for overtime hours in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: Figures on the number of overtime hours worked by police officers and the total cost to the public for police overtime in England and Wales are not collected by the Home Office. The amount paid to police forces for overtime hours is available on the website of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants:
	www.cipfastats.net

Police: Powers

Mark Reckless: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to release the results of her Department's consultation on police powers to promote and maintain public order.

Damian Green: The Government are carefully considering the responses to the consultation “Police Powers to Promote and Maintain Public Order”. The Government will publish their response to the consultation in due course.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the minimum number of years a person convicted of a sexual offence must wait before reapplying for a review of an indeterminate notification requirement following an unsuccessful initial application.

Jeremy Browne: Offenders are eligible to seek a first review of their indefinite notification requirements 15 years from the point of first notification following release from prison. If an offender's initial review is refused, they will be eligible to seek a further review of their indefinite notification requirements following the expiry of a minimum period of eight years. If considered necessary by the police, this period can be extended to a period up to, but not exceeding, 15 years.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many persons convicted of a sexual offence have been (a) fined or (b) recalled to prison for a breach of their notification requirement in each probation service area in each of the last seven years;
	(2)  how many persons convicted of sexual offences and subject to notification requirements in each probation service area failed to notify police forces of a change to (a) an address, (b) any other names used and (c) the address of any other premises in the UK at which, at the time of notification, the individual regularly resided or stayed in each of the last seven years;
	(3)  how many applications to (a) vary, (b) renew or (c) discharge a sexual offences prevention order have been made to courts in each county in England in each of the last seven years;
	(4)  what the average cost to the Exchequer of the issue of a notification order as set out in sections 97 to 108 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Browne: These data are not held centrally in the format requested.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the provisions of sections 104 to 113 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in protecting members of the public from serious sexual harm; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: Sexual offences prevention orders (SOPOs) provide a valuable tool to the police to protect the public from various sexual harm by restricting offenders' behaviours and movements. The Government continually work with the police and other agencies to review the effectiveness of SOPOs.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many relevant offenders as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 failed to provide police with initial information within three days of the relevant date in each probation service area in each of the last seven years;
	(2)  how many travel notification requirements each police force received from persons convicted of a sexual offence in (a) August and (b) September 2012;
	(3)  how many sex offenders with notification requirements have submitted details of their bank accounts or credit cards to a police force;
	(4)  how many persons in each probation area are subject to notification requirements in respect of a conviction for a sexual offence listed in schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003;
	(5)  how many risk of sexual harm orders were issued in each police authority for an individual who has (a) engaged in sexual activity involving a child or in the presence of a child, (b) caused or incited a child to watch a person engaging in sexual activity or to look at a moving or still image that is sexual, (c) given a child anything that relates to sexual activity or contains reference to such activity and (d) communicated with a child where any part of the communication is sexual in each of the last seven years;
	(6)  how many individuals in each probation service area in England are subject to a risk of sexual harm order provided for in sections 123 to 129 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003; and how many such individuals (a) had and (b) had not received a conviction for a sexual offence prior to the imposition of the order;
	(7)  how many offenders in each probation service area convicted of (a) sexual offences listed in Schedule 3 and (b) violent offences listed in Schedule 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (i) are subject to sexual offences prevention orders and (ii) were so subject in each of the last seven years;
	(8)  how many sexual offences prevention orders have been granted by magistrates courts on the application of the chief constable of each police force since the inception of such orders;
	(9)  how many individuals have breached the terms of a sexual offences prevention order in each probation service area in each of the last seven years;
	(10)  how many British and foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences similar to those identified in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are subject to a notification order;
	(11)  how many persons convicted of sexual offences have had an indeterminate notification requirement changed on review since July 2012.

Jeremy Browne: Home Office IT systems will need to be interrogated to ascertain whether the relevant data are held in the format requested. Where they are available, it will take a considerable period of time to extract the relevant data. As such, I will write to the hon. Member by 7 November 2012 with responses to these questions. I will place a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.

Smuggling

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many compensatory payments were made to individuals who had their excise goods and vehicles seized by UKBA and who successfully appealed against the seizure in each of the last five years; what the total value of such payments was in each of the last five years; and what the 10 highest compensatory payments made in each of those years were.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency legal team was formed in December 2009, and as such does not hold any data prior to this date. The UK Border Agency is able to provide the following data:
	
		
			  Condemnation orders refused 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 22 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 25.5 
			 April 2012 to September 2012 9.5 
		
	
	Data on the value of payments are not held in the format requested, and would incur disproportionate costs to collate. The National Post Seizure Unit (NPSU) does not hold the data centrally in the format requested. To collate this information would necessitate electronic and physical examination of over 400 case files.
	An FOI response was provided to my hon. Friend dated 19 April 2012 to that effect.

UK Border Agency

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there are UK Border Agency staff members who are caseworkers for individual universities involved in sponsor compliance.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency does not assign caseworkers to individual universities but it does assign a named account manager who assists with the university's interactions with the UK Border Agency.

UK Border Agency

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency staff are involved in monitoring sponsor compliance for education institutions.

Mark Harper: There are approximately 140 staff directly involved in monitoring sponsor compliance.
	Compliance officers monitor all sponsors for tiers 2, 4 and 5 of the points based system; as such the UK Border Agency cannot give a figure for education institution monitoring only.

EDUCATION

Care to Learn Scheme

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to make any changes to Care to Learn funding arrangements in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

David Laws: holding answer 17 October 2012
	The Government are committed to providing child care support to teenage parents so they can take part in education or training. There are no plans to make changes to the Care to Learn funding arrangements in the financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Education: West Midlands

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) colleges have been built in (i) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands in each financial year since 2006.

David Laws: holding answer 17 October 2012
	The Department for Education, via the Education Funding Agency, allocates the majority of available capital resources directly to local authority areas. This enables them to establish their priorities for investment and to provide resources to those schools most in need. For this reason, complete information on the numbers of schools built is not held centrally and the relevant local authorities in Birmingham and the West Midlands would be best placed to answer the hon. Member's question.

English Baccalaureate

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether he proposes that (a) art, (b) drama, (c) music and (d) ICT will be included within the English baccalaureate certificate;
	(2)  how he plans to assess (a) art, (b) drama, (c) music and (d) ICT in the proposed English baccalaureate certificate system.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answers 17 and 15 October 2012
	The English Baccalaureate is a core set of academic subjects—English, maths, science, history, geography and languages—that give students the broadest possible opportunities to progress towards future study and rewarding employment. The announcement by the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), on 17 September on the introduction of English Baccalaureate Certificates (EBCs) from 2015 relates to qualifications in these subjects. We recognise the importance of creative subjects such as art, drama, music, and ICT as part of a broad curriculum and for the additional skills and enrichment they contribute to pupils' education. We are currently considering how to ensure that high quality qualifications are available in these subjects.

Free School Meals

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to help identify children who are entitled to free school meals.

David Laws: The Government are committed to increasing the take-up of free school meals for all pupils who are entitled to them. We want disadvantaged children to benefit from a nutritious meal, and for their schools to receive extra funding through the pupil premium in order to help them to raise the attainment of these pupils.
	Identifying which children are entitled to free school meals can be difficult, and something we are seeking to address as part of our reforms to eligibility for free school meals from 2013. A child is only eligible for free school meals if his or her parent is in receipt of an eligible benefit and an application to receive a free school meal has been made. It is not possible to identify those pupils who are entitled to free school meals who have not made an application. We have therefore taken a number of steps to encourage parents to apply for free school meals.
	Our funding for the School Food Trust enables it to carry out work to improve the take-up of healthy, school lunches, and specifically to increase take-up of free school meals. The School Food Trust's “Free School Meals Matter Toolkit” provides schools with information and advice to help them to encourage all eligible pupils to register for, and take, their free school meal.
	We have streamlined the application process by developing an online eligibility checking service (ECS), which allows local authorities to check data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, and the Home Office to establish a family's free school meal eligibility quickly. We are encouraging local authorities to increase their use of this resource, which, as well as reducing bureaucracy and cost at a local level, encourages more parents to sign up their children for a free school lunch. For those authorities that choose to use it, the ECS allows parents to check their own eligibility and to apply online for free school meals.
	In November 2011, we further encouraged take-up by sending registration messages to parents, schools and local authorities. The school census figures published on 21 June 2012 show that registration for free school meals increased by 0.1% in both primary and secondary schools nationally.
	The Department will shortly be publishing a Research Report “Pupils not claiming Free School Meals”, showing estimates of the numbers of pupils who are entitled to free school meals, but are not claiming them, living in each local authority.

Primary Education: English Language

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to support primary schools in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) England to assist in the teaching of children from other EU member states who do not speak English.

David Laws: The Government's priority for children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) is to promote rapid language acquisition and include them in mainstream education as quickly as possible. Schools are best placed to know how to achieve this for their pupils.
	Local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that education is available for all children of compulsory school age that is appropriate to their age, ability, aptitudes and any special educational needs they may have. This duty applies irrespective of a child's immigration status, country of origin or rights of residence in a particular area. Our reforms of the school funding system from 2013-14 will enable local authorities to continue to allocate funding to pupils with English as an Additional Language for the first three years from the point at which those pupils enter the school system.

Research

Chris Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what external policy research his Department has commissioned in each of the last six years; which organisation was commissioned to provide each such piece of research; and what the cost of each such piece of research was.

David Laws: The information requested has been placed in House Libraries.

TRANSPORT

Aviation

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  for what reason the summer of 2015 has been set as the time by which the Independent Commission on Aviation chaired by Sir Howard Davies will publish its final report; what other options for a reporting date were considered; and what consideration he has given to the economic effect of setting summer 2015 as the latest date for publication of the Commission's final report;
	(2)  to what extent the timeframe for the Independent Commission on Aviation chaired by Sir Howard Davies' work is (a) flexible and (b) capable of being accelerated.

Simon Burns: The timetable for the Airports Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, has been set to enable it to assess the scale and nature of the requirement for additional capacity to maintain the UK's position as Europe's most important aviation hub and to carry out a thorough analysis of potential options for meeting that requirement. In order to enable early action where appropriate, the Commission has been tasked with delivering an interim report by the end of 2013 covering its assessment of the evidence in relation to maintaining the UK's global hub status and of immediate actions to improve the use of existing runway capacity in the next five years. Its final report, covering longer term options, and setting out its recommendations for the optimum approach, will be published in the summer of 2015.

Blue Badge Scheme

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) written representations and (b) complaints he has received following the refusal of a blue badge renewal application, by a local authority, since the introduction of the Blue Badge Improvement Service.

Norman Baker: Local authorities are responsible for issuing blue badges and for taking decisions about an applicant's eligibility. There is no right of appeal to the Secretary of State with respect to a local authority refusing to issue a badge. Complaints about whether or not a local authority has acted correctly are normally sent to the Local Government Ombudsman.
	The Department has not received any complaints about the operation of the Blue Badge Improvement Service which continues to work well. Over 800,000 badges have been issued through the service since it began in January 2012. I occasionally receive letters from members of the House about particular cases, for example, when an application made by one of their constituents is refused. It is a matter, however, for the relevant local authority to decide whether or not a person is eligible for a badge under the terms of the regulations. An applicant must re-apply for a badge every three years, in most cases. They will be assessed at the time they apply and there should be no assumption on their part that they will be issued with a badge simply because they have had one before. They must meet the eligibility criteria at the time of application.

Crossrail Line

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage UK manufacture of trains to be ordered for the Crossrail line.

Stephen Hammond: Four bidders have received the Invitation to Negotiate for the Crossrail Rolling Stock and Depot contract and we look forward to highly competitive bids when these are received, later this month.
	The Invitation to Negotiate includes requirements for 'responsible procurement'. This means that bidders are required to set out how they will engage with the wider supply chain and provide opportunities for training, apprenticeships, and small and medium size businesses within their procurement strategy. Bidders are also required to establish an appropriate local presence to manage the delivery of the contract.
	This procurement process is being undertaken by Crossrail Ltd which is responsible for delivering the Crossrail project. My Department has been working in partnership with Crossrail Ltd to improve dialogue with suppliers and increase the long-term visibility of forthcoming contracts in order to strengthen the capability of the UK supply chain.

Crossrail Line

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the merits of recent research on the extension of Crossrail to Stansted airport.

Stephen Hammond: The Department is aware of recent suggestions regarding extending Crossrail services to Stansted airport. This raises a number of practical difficulties that would need to be addressed if such a proposal were to be developed further. We have not carried out any assessment of the proposal. Transport for London are reviewing options around Crossrail 2 which includes the potential for connections to existing rail corridors in the north-east and south-west of London. This review is due to be completed next year.

Crossrail Line

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the establishment of a Crossrail link between Stansted and Heathrow airports.

Stephen Hammond: The Government remain committed to the delivery of the current Crossrail project which will provide fast and frequent Crossrail services from Maidenhead and Heathrow airport in the west through central London and beyond to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east.
	The Government do not currently have any plans to introduce direct rail links between Stansted and Heathrow airports.

Cycling: Helmets

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage children to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle.

Stephen Hammond: We recommend all cyclists—especially children—wear helmets to protect them should they have a collision. The Highway Code, under rule 59, also recommends the wearing of helmets for cyclists of all ages. However, we believe people and parents should be free to choose whether to follow this advice and we have no plans to legislate to introduce mandatory enforcement of cycle helmet wearing.
	The Think! campaigns for children include advice on the use of cycle helmets, as part of wider campaigns. These include ‘Tales of the Road’ for children aged six to 11:
	http://talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk/cycling-safety.php
	Cycle safety advice for parents of children aged five to seven:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/education/early-years-and-primary/parents/5-to-7s/cycle-safety/
	Cycle safety advice for parents of children aged seven to 11:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/education/early-years-and-primary/parents/7-to-11s/cycle-safety/
	Cycle safety advice for parents of children aged 12+:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/education/secondary/parents/cycle-safety/
	We have also recently launched a THINK CYCLIST campaign which offers advice to drivers and cyclists on how to stay safe on the road. One of the messages to cyclists is to wear a correctly fitted cycle helmet, which is securely fastened and conforms to current regulations:
	http://think.direct.gov.uk/cycling.html

Electric Vehicles

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of persons who were (a) killed, (b) seriously injured and (c) slightly injured by plug-in electric and hybrid electric vehicles when operating in electric mode in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The number of casualties in reported personal injury road accidents known to involve electric and hybrid electric vehicles for the years 2010 and 2011 were as follows:
	Electric vehicles
	Two deaths, 10 serious injuries, and 59 slight injuries in 2010; and one death, 10 serious injuries and 56 slight injuries in 2011.
	Hybrid electric vehicles
	Ten deaths, 72 serious injuries and 576 slight injuries in 2010; and five deaths, 61 serious injuries and 761 slight injuries in 2011.
	In both years the number of casualties known to involve electric or hybrid electric vehicles accounted for less than 0.5% of the total number of casualties in reported road accidents in Britain.
	The Department refers to DVLA records to determine whether a vehicle involved in an accident has electric or hybrid electric propulsion. This is only possible for British-registered vehicles where a full and accurate vehicle registration mark (VRM) is contained in the police record. This information exists for around three-quarters of vehicles involved in personal injury accidents. There may therefore have been additional accidents involving electric or hybrid electric vehicles that are registered outside Britain, or where the reported VRM was invalid or missing.
	The Department does not hold information on whether a vehicle was operating in electric mode at the time of the accident, nor whether the vehicle is of the ‘plug-in’ type.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of the cost of High Speed 2 will be funded by (a) public and (b) private sources.

Simon Burns: The Government are proceeding with HS2 on the basis that the costs of the project will be met in large part from the public purse. While my Department has made clear that we will explore opportunities for third party funding and financing as the project develops, we are not at a stage in the process where we can say what proportion of project costs might be met this way.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the increased capacity created by the electrification of the Midland Main Line was factored in to the calculation of the latest economic case for the Y-route of High Speed 2.

Simon Burns: The increase in capacity to be created by the electrification of the Midland Main Line was not included in the latest update of the economic case for the Y-route of High Speed 2. The modelling for this update, which builds on the analysis published in January, was based on the latest economic forecasts and the best information that could be incorporated given the lead-time for the analysis. The economic case has always included some assumptions about future investment in the existing rail network and the greater detail now available will be taken into account as part of the next substantive update of the HS2 business case.

Large Goods Vehicles: Licensing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider (a) allowing exemptions from the Certificate of Professional Competence programme to be granted to HGV drivers with a large amount of experience and (b) introducing a form of re-certification test to allow HGV drivers to prove their knowledge without having to undergo classroom tuition.

Stephen Hammond: The intent of Directive 2003/59/EC is to encourage lorry, bus and coach drivers to recognise the value of continuing professional development and to undertake training that recognises and builds upon their existing levels of experience, knowledge and expertise.
	The recital to the directive states
	“the obligation to ... undergo periodic training is intended to improve road safety and the safety of the driver”.
	The directive does not provide an exemption from periodic training based upon the driving experience of individual drivers neither does it permit the introduction of 're-certification tests'. Both of these would run counter to the basic purpose of the directive.

Liverpool Port

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether there are any plans to build a permanent passenger and baggage handling facility at Liverpool International Cruise Terminal.

Stephen Hammond: That is a matter for Liverpool city council, as operator of the terminal, to decide.

Liverpool Port

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on Liverpool City Council allowing City of Liverpool Cruise Terminal to accept turnaround calls prior to securing EU state aid clearance.

Stephen Hammond: This Department's concerns about fair competition have been satisfied by the Council's repayment of £8.8 million grant. The matter of State Aids is currently under discussion with the European Commission. Liverpool City Council understands that it is at risk of being required to make further repayments of grant in the event of an adverse ruling.

Motor Vehicles

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many registered (a) cars, (b) vans and (c) heavy goods vehicles there were in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Hammond: The numbers of registered cars, light goods and heavy goods vehicles in Great Britain as at 30 June 2012 are shown in the following table. Statistics for the UK are not compiled centrally by the Department for Transport as the registration of cars in Northern Ireland is administered separately by the Northern Ireland Driver and Vehicle Agency.
	
		
			 Number (million) 
			  Cars Light goods vehicles Heavy goods vehicles 
			 Vehicles registered in Great Britain, as at 30 June 2012 28.710 3.283 0.466 
			 Source: Vehicle Licensing Statistics, Great Britain: Quarter 2 2012 (DFT). These statistics are derived from the DVLA vehicle register, an operational database used to handle the licensing of vehicles registered in Great Britain.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government has taken to combat motor insurance fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The information is as follows:
	(a) We are working with the insurance industry to allow them access to DVLA driver details on penalty points and disqualifications to reduce fraud.
	(b) We are tackling uninsured driving by the continuous insurance scheme (CIE) introduced last year which enables enforcement action to be taken against those who keep a vehicle without insurance. CIE supplements police powers introduced in 2005 to seize uninsured vehicles being driven on the road.
	(c) The Ministry of Justice is to consult soon on ways to reduce the number and costs of whiplash claims. The consultation will focus on two main areas: the introduction of independent panels; and whether to amend the small claims threshold for damages for personal injury claims. This will reduce costs of defending such claims and encourage insurers to challenge exaggerated or fraudulent claims through the courts.
	Additionally, there will be an opportunity for respondents to suggest other ideas on alternative ways forward. It will be a full 12-week consultation and we will be holding stakeholder sessions during the consultation period.
	In addition the insurance industry has agreed to fund (initially for three years) a specialist insurance fraud police unit, which went live in January 2012. The City of London's Police National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) will work with the industry's Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB). The unit will focus on enforcement and prevention strategies to tackle current fraud issues. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is setting up a National Insurance Fraud Register, a database enabling insurers to share information on known cheats. The scheme is now operational.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many non-commercial vehicles registered overseas entered the UK in the latest period for which figures are available; and what consideration he has given to introducing charges for such vehicles to use the road network.

Stephen Hammond: In 2011, 0.4% of traffic on British roads was estimated to be foreign registered. For car journeys in the UK, only 0.3% of traffic is foreign registered. For this reason, the Government's current plans are to charge only heavy goods vehicles and not to charge non-commercial vehicles.

Public Transport: Disabled People

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria are required for eligibility for a disabled person's pass to use (a) rail and (b) bus services; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: People who are eligible for a Disabled Person's Railcard are those who are registered as deaf or using a hearing aid, or who have a visual impairment, people who have repeated attacks of epilepsy despite continuing drug treatment or are currently prohibited from driving because of epilepsy and those in receipt of certain mobility-based benefits.
	In addition passengers who are blind or visually-impaired and are travelling with a companion or passengers who stay in their own wheelchair for a rail journey are eligible for discounted travel without the need for a railcard. The terms of this railcard are protected by the Department for Transport through its Franchise Agreements with the train operating companies.
	Eligibility for concessionary bus travel in England (outside London) is set out in section 146 of the Transport Act 2000. Currently, eligible disabled people are those whose condition comes under one of the seven categories of disability listed in the Act.

Railways: Fares

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has a role in defining peak and off-peak times in relation to the calculation of rail fares.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport places limits on the maximum restrictions that can be placed on the long distance off-peak return fare where it is regulated and on off-peak Pay As You Go fares in London. Within this framework, train operators set restrictions so as to best match demand to capacity and provide a coherent fares structure across the national network.
	The Department is presently undertaking a Fares and Ticketing Review.

Railways: Franchises

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect the current pause in the rail franchising process will have on (a) consideration and consultation of the optimal franchise configuration to succeed the current Northern and TransPennine Express franchises and (b) the timescale for the awarding of successor franchises.

Simon Burns: The Department is currently assessing the impact of the current suspension of the programme for all rail franchises, including Northern and TransPennine Express, and the implications for the time scales for awarding of contracts. This will ensure continuity of services while establishing the right approach in terms of affordability and value for money. Once this has been finalised and agreed we will provide an update to the House. The delivery of the previously announced investment in the north will continue.
	Future franchise competitions will incorporate the findings of the Brown Review which will report by the end of December. The terms of reference for the Review have been laid in the Library of the House.

Rescue Services: Helicopters

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken in the invitation to tender for the search and rescue contract to prioritise manufacture of the helicopters in the UK.

Stephen Hammond: While complying with EU procurement law, the Department has asked bidders, through its tender documentation, to demonstrate the whole-life cost approach to minimising the environmental impacts of designing, manufacturing/constructing, operating and maintaining helicopters. Their response to this area will be considered as part of the evaluation process.
	Bidders have also been informed of the Government's intention to enhance the ability of SMEs to access government contracts. Bidders, through the tender process, should demonstrate how they intend to support this policy with an explanation of how opportunities and training (which may include apprenticeships or equivalent) for long-term job seekers will be developed and implemented.
	Tender documentation has been published on the Department's website and is available for public access.

Tolls

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the cost of setting up a national road charging system including the cost of fitting units into the existing vehicle fleet.

Stephen Hammond: No assessment has been made.

Tolls

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what response his Department has made to the European Commission's stakeholder consultation on the charging of the use of road infrastructure;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the legal competence of the EU to introduce road pricing arrangements affecting the UK.

Stephen Hammond: The Department is currently considering its response to the stakeholder consultation.
	The Government has been clear that it remains committed to upholding fiscal sovereignty and ensuring that member states retain control of their own tax policy. At the same time we are not considering road pricing or tolling of existing routes. This will be a fundamental principle underpinning our response to any EU proposals.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to issue an addendum to the Great Western franchise invitation to tender document following representations made by the West of England Partnership.

Simon Burns: The Government are aware of the West of England Partnership's views. However, we are unable to comment on the detail of the ITT pending the outcome of the independent review of the rail franchising programme by Richard Brown CBE. The review was announced by the Secretary of State on 3 October 2012 and is expected to report back at the end of December.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect that the recent problems with the franchise of the West Coast Mainline will have on the granting of new rail franchises in the West Country.

Simon Burns: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by the Secretary of State for Transport, on 15 October 2012, Official Report, columns 46-47 and the terms of reference for the Brown Review which has been laid in the Library of the House and which will provide the basis upon which the Secretary of State assesses the future requirements for franchises across England and Wales.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the expected cost of the independent review into the error by Laidlaw and Smith; and what (a) Laidlaw and Smith and (b) PwC will be paid.

Simon Burns: The Department has not prescribed a budget or forecast costs for the Laidlaw inquiry. Sam Laidlaw will have access to the resources necessary to conclude his inquiry.
	Once the inquiry has concluded, the Secretary of State for Transport will make public the costs incurred.
	Sam Laidlaw and Ed Smith are both non-executive directors of the Department. They are not receiving any additional reimbursement other than that which is already made public in the Department's Accounts.
	PwC are not working on the Laidlaw inquiry.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what checks were carried out by (a) officials involved in the Inter-City West Coast (ICWC) franchising competition, (b) consultants advising officials and Ministers in his Department in respect of the franchising competition, (c) senior officials supervising the ICWC franchising team, (d) board members supervising the ICWC franchising competition and (e) Ministers in his Department to ensure that all was proceeding according to plan with the franchise competition; and at what stage.

Simon Burns: This information is not currently available in the form requested. In order to look into the checks and processes surrounding the InterCity West Coast franchise competition, the Secretary of State for Transport has set up the Laidlaw inquiry. The terms of reference for the inquiry have been laid in the Library of the House. It will provide its initial findings to the Secretary of State by 26 October and its final report will be published no later than the end of November.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

British Energy

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the statement on page 24 of his Department's business plan 2011-15 that £233 million was allocated to British Energy in its 2011-12 budget, for what purpose this financial support was provided; and whether, in view of that support, British Energy constitutes any form of public subsidiary.

John Hayes: holding answer 19 October 2012
	The payments in respect of British Energy (BE) relate to contractual historic spent fuel liabilities under the Historic Fuel Liabilities Agreement. As part of the restructuring of BE in January 2005, the Government undertook a contractual obligation to assist the company in meeting these liabilities.
	The payments relate to the storage and reprocessing of irradiated oxide fuel and related services under historic contracts with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.
	British Energy is a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF S.A. It is not classified by the Office for National Statistics as a public sector body and does not constitute any form of public subsidiary.

Carbon Trust: Grants

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much the Carbon Trust has paid out in grants to businesses in each financial year from 2005-06 to date; how many businesses received such grants in each such year; and what estimate he has made of the likely level of such grants in each financial year to 2015-16.

Gregory Barker: The Carbon Trust advises that between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2012 the value of grants made by it to businesses was as set out in the following table. These grants were delivered through funding provided by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), Invest Northern Ireland, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Department of Transport.
	
		
			  Total value of grants (£) Number of grant recipients 
			 2005-06 2,918,504 60 
			 2006-07 3,032,539 53 
			 2007-08 3,105,368 47 
			 2008-09 3,842,793 39 
			 2009-10 12,901,238 54 
			 2010-11 23,574,809 75 
			 2011-12 12,556,708 40 
		
	
	Where known, the forecast levels of grant funding between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2015 would be provided by the following Departments:
	DECC for 2012-15;
	Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Invest Northern Ireland for 2012-13.
	These are shown in the following table. It should be noted that DECC no longer provides core grant funding to Carbon Trust and its support now relates to long-term research projects.
	
		
			  Total value of grants (£) 
			 2012-13 7,383,399 
			 2013-14 5,500,000 
			 2014-15 5,500,000 
			 2015-16 0

Coal

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what role he sees for coal in meeting the UK's future energy requirements.

John Hayes: The role of coal is set to decline over the coming decade as stations close in order to comply with the requirements of European Union air quality directives that place limits on emissions of oxides of sulphur and nitrogen.
	Eight gigawatts (GW) of coal capacity has opted-out of the large combustion plant directive (LCPD), 5 GW of which has notified its closure by the end of March 2013, with the remainder required to close by the end of 2015 at the latest,
	The industrial emissions directive (IED) replaces the LCPD and sets more stringent limits from 2016.
	It is uncertain what proportion of the remaining coal capacity will make the investment needed to meet the IED limits, or otherwise be required to close by 2023 at the latest.
	In the longer term, coal with carbon capture and storage (CCS) could play an important role as part of a low carbon energy mix. The Carbon Plan, published by DECC in December 2011, identified a significant contribution for fossil fuels with CCS by 2030, depending on its ability to compete with other low carbon technologies and if costs are reduced quickly as a result of Government and industry actions.

Electricity Generation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many investigations have been initiated by Ofgem into the failure of energy distribution companies to deliver on output efficiency in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012 to date.

John Hayes: Enforcement of compliance with the relevant legislations, which apply to energy distribution companies, is a matter for the independent regulator Ofgem. Based on formal investigations and according to dates for when the investigation was formally opened:
	(a) 2008: Two
	EDF Energy Networks (EPN) plc, EDF Energy Networks (LPN) plc and EDF Energy Networks (SPN) plc—SLC4D and SLC12;
	National Grid Gas plc - SSCE2B, E6 and E20, SSCD9 and A40
	(b) 2009: Two
	Central Networks East plc and Central Networks West plc—SLC4D, SLC12 and SLC30;
	Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution plc—SLC4D, SLC12 and SLC30;
	(c) 2010: Two
	Electricity North West Ltd—SLC4D and SLC12;
	Wales and West Utilities Ltd—SSCA40, D9 and SCE2B, E20;
	(d) 2011: Two
	Northern Gas Networks Ltd—SSCD10 2(g);
	National Grid Gas plc—SSCD10 2(g);
	(e) 2012: None

Electricity Generation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on how many occasions an energy distribution company has been fined by Ofgem for its failure to deliver on output efficiency in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012 to date; and what the total value of the fine imposed was in each such case.

John Hayes: Enforcement of compliance with the relevant legislations, which apply to energy distribution companies, is a matter for the independent regulator Ofgem. According to dates for final penalty notices:
	(a) 2008: One
	Northern Gas Networks Ltd— SSLC D10: £25,000;
	(b) 2009: One
	EDF Energy Networks (EPN) plc, EDF Energy Networks (LPN) plc and EDF Energy Networks (SPN) plc—SLC4D and SLC12: £2 million;
	(c) 2010: None
	(d) 2011: Four
	Electricity North West Ltd—SLC4D and SLC12: £100,000;
	Central Networks East plc and Central Networks West plc—SLC4D and SLC30: £400,000;
	Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution plc—SLC4D, SLC12 and SLC30: £500,000;
	National Grid Gas plc—SPE2B, E6 and E20, SSCD9 and A40: £8 million
	(e) 2012: Three
	Northern Gas Networks Ltd—SSCD10 2(g): £900,000;
	National Grid Gas plc—SSCD10 2(g): £4.3 million;
	Wales and West Utilities Ltd—SSCA40, D9 and SCE2B, E20: £375,000.

Electricity Generation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on how many occasions a decision by Ofgem to fine an energy distribution company for its failure to deliver on output efficiency has been overturned on appeal in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012 to date.

John Hayes: Enforcement of compliance with the relevant legislations, which apply to energy distribution companies, is a matter for the independent regulator Ofgem. None of their decisions to fine an energy distribution company for its failure to deliver or output efficiency have been overturned on appeal.

Electricity Generation

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will estimate the (a) current and all future total system costs and (b) current and future levelised costs of electricity generation per MWh by (i) nuclear, (ii) onshore wind, (iii) offshore wind, (iv) solar PV, (v) tidal, (vi) biomass, (vii) coal fired, (viii) open cycle gas turbine and (x) combined cycle gas turbine systems.

John Hayes: DECC has published levelised costs estimates(1) of various generation technologies on the DECC website. The most recent information, at the time of writing, can be found in a combination of three reports(2).
	For ease of reference, the following table replicates central levelised cost estimates from the report for projects starting in 2011 and 2017. A simplified assumption of 10% discount rate across technologies is used to aid high level comparison between technologies.
	
		
			 Central levelised cost estimates for selected electricity generation technologies 
			  Source Projects starting in 2011 (£/MWh) Projects starting in 2017, (£/MWh) 
			 Combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) PB power (2011) 11 88 
			 Coal—ASC (3)— 95 117 
			 Coal—IGCC (FOAK/NOAK) (3)— 126 151 
			 Nuclear (FOAK/NOAK) (3)— 74 65 
		
	
	
		
			 Onshore wind >5 MW RO banding review government response (2012) 101 98 
			 Offshore R2 wind (3)— 117 102 
			 Offshore R3 wind (3)— 135 112 
			 Dedicated biomass >50MW (3)— 118 117 
			 Dedicated biomass <50MW (3)— 113 112 
			 Solar PV250-5,000kW PB Power (2012) (4)166 128 
			 (1) It should be noted that levelised cost estimates for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, discount rate and other drivers and this means that there is significant uncertainty around these estimates. It is perhaps more appropriate to consider a range of cost estimates as pipeline projects show a large range around these central values. Total power sector system costs are largely driven by the capacity and generation mix of energy technologies (including renewable energy technologies) as well as methods of energy sector balancing (i.e. back-up plant, storage, interconnection, demand-side response, etc). DECC does not allocate total system costs to individual technologies. (2) A report by Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) (2011) which focuses on non-renewables technologies can be found at: www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/about-us/economics-social-research/2127-electricity-generation-cost-model-2011.pdf A report by Arup/Ernst and Young (2011) which focuses on renewable technologies, which has been updated in line with evidence received as part of the Government Response to the Banding review and can to be found at: http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/ro-banding/5936-renewables-obligation-consultation-the-government.pdf DECC have updated estimates for the underlying costs of solar PV as part of the government response to Phase 2A comprehensive review of feed in tariffs, which can be found at: http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/meeting-energy-demand/renewable-energy/5381-solar-pv-cost-update.pdf (3) Indicates brace. (4) Solar PV estimates are for projects starting in 2012. Note: All estimates for ‘Nth of a Kind’ (NOAK) projects, except nuclear and coal—IGCC where the first estimate for projects starting in 2011 is based on a ‘First of a Kind’ (FOAK) estimate and the estimate for projects starting in 2017 is based on a NOAK estimate. Please note figures for onshore wind use an average England and Wales load factor. 
		
	
	DECC has not published comparable levelised cost estimates for OCGT, Tidal and Wave.

Energy Distribution

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the annual cost to consumers of energy lost during the distribution phase.

Gregory Barker: The 2011 annual cost to consumers of energy lost during the distribution phase of electricity supply is estimated to be £l billion. When including gas leakages, electricity losses from the transmission network, electricity theft and meter fraud the energy lost in 2011 increases to £1.5 billion.
	This estimate is based on the volumes of electricity losses and gas leakages (published in the Digest of United Kingdom energy statistics(1)) multiplied by the average wholesale prices in 2011.(2)
	(1:) http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/stats/publications/dukes/5955-dukes-20I2-chapter-5-electricity.pdf
	(2)(:) Electricity price—estimated from half hourly wholesale prices published by Elexon:https://www.elexonportal.co.uk/category/view/179?cachebust=6ekcj0gy3l
	Prices are weighted by demand data published by National Grid demand data:
	http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/Data/Demand+Data/
	Gas price—2011 average taken from monthly data from I P E Natural Gas Index

Energy: Private Rented Housing

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he has taken to investigate whether commercial landlords operate transparently when re-charging tenants for energy supplies.

Gregory Barker: Ofgem is responsible for regulating gas and electricity markets in the non-domestic sector, including whether further regulatory protection is required. Gas and electricity resold and consumed for non-domestic purposes is a contractual matter between the landlord and tenant. The maximum resale price (MPR) provisions that govern the reselling of gas and electricity by landlords and resellers for domestic purposes do not apply. Any dispute about terms and conditions of a contract should be pursued through the courts.

Gas and Electricity Markets Authority

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will publish (a) the membership of Ofgem's Consumer Challenge Group and (b) a note of each meeting of the Group since May 2010.

Gregory Barker: The information requested is a matter for Ofgem. The chief executive of Ofgem will write to the hon. Member directly, and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has published guidance on the rules governing departmental advisers working concurrently for private consultancies.

Gregory Barker: Rules on special advisers are covered in the Special Advisers' Code of Conduct and the model contract published by Cabinet Office and available on their website.
	Contractors are covered by the Department's standard terms and conditions of contract for either services or suppliers. These are published on the Department's intranet.

Miriam Maes

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  how many candidates for the post of Delivery Adviser to his Department on Energy Efficiency (a) applied for the position and (b) were given interviews;
	(2)  what advice his Department's Permanent Secretary has provided to (a) him and (b) other Ministers on his links with Miriam Maes;
	(3)  what steps his Department has taken to record and publish declarations of interests by its contractors;
	(4)  what guidance on conduct his Department issues to consultants that it has engaged.

Edward Davey: Miriam Maes was contracted by DECC for the period September 2010 to May 2011, following a competitive tender process. The competition was run by inviting four candidates considered to be energy efficiency experts to submit tenders. Miriam Maes and one other candidate were interviewed by civil servants. The names of the unsuccessful candidates are confidential. Civil servants made a recommendation to the Minister for Climate Change that the Department appoint Miriam Maes, which the Minister agreed. This contract was extended once on the recommendation of civil servants, with the approval of the Permanent Secretary. It is not normal procedure to ask Ministers to approve an extension of this size. Miriam Maes was provided with business cards. Business cards are used to help identify DECC members of staff and, where appropriate, contractors to the Department, and record contact details.
	Ms Maes was subsequently contracted, following a competitively tendered process for the period July 2011 to March 2012. This competition was advertised on Contracts Finder in June 2011:
	www.contractsfinder.co.uk
	Civil Servants conducted the interview process, no Minister was asked to sign off the appointment. Miriam Maes has been paid £49,000 (+VAT) and has claimed £338.40 in expenses under the above contracts. Miriam attended some meetings at DECC outside of her contracted periods.
	Consultants are expected to comply with their contractual terms. A copy of Ms Maes' contract has been placed in the Library, redacted as necessary. Ms Maes notified the Department of her clients at Foresee and it is not departmental policy to publish such declarations for reasons of confidentiality.
	Miriam Maes had a departmental pass that was valid between 23 September 2010 and 31 May 2011, but was not provided with a departmental email account. The Department does not hold a central record of the occasions on which Miriam Maes was contacted by email. The Department did not contribute to the cost of Miriam Maes' mobile telephone, nor her attendance at the Conservative party conference in 2010.
	Ministers from time to time will meet external stakeholders for informal discussions. Officials did not attend the meeting on 15 February. Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx
	A record of all departmental spend above £500 is available on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspx
	The Department has released a number of emails between Miriam Maes and the Department, and these are available on the Department's website. The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change was informed of progress in responding to the freedom of information request and shown the material for release pre-publication. He did not make the decision in relation to this request. Some further information in this area has been requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and my Department is considering the request in accordance with the requirements of that Act. Information relating to internal discussions and advice, including that from the Permanent Secretary to Ministers on matters such as this, is not normally disclosed.

Nuclear Power Stations

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what work his Department has undertaken to assess the feasibility of options for plutonium re-use including (a) a new mox plant, (b) a PRISM fast reactor and (c) Enhanced Candu 6 reactors.

John Hayes: The Government response to the consultation on the long-term management of civil plutonium, published in December 2011, set out the Government's preferred policy for dealing with the stockpile. This is re-use as Mixed Oxide fuel which is the most technically mature solution. It also stated that “Government remains open to any alternative proposals that offer better value to the taxpayer”.
	In line with this, in February 2012 NDA sought proposals on potential credible alternative approaches for managing the UK's plutonium stocks. NDA received proposals from both GE Hitachi and CANDU. NDA is currently working with them on these proposals while also providing support to the Government as it progresses its preferred policy of converting the material into Mixed Oxide fuel (MOX) for reactors.

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department have taken to prepare for the introduction of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has ensured that all staff within the procurement function are aware of the content and potential impact on public procurement of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. This has been done through departmental procurement knowledge networks and procurement professional development days. The Department awaits guidance from Cabinet Office on how the act should be implemented across Government.

Research

Chris Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what external policy research his Department has commissioned in each of the last six years; which organisation was commissioned to provide each such piece of research; and what the cost of each such piece of research was.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has devolved purchasing. The information requested is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department would be able to provide further contract information by narrowing the scope, if specific research projects were identified. Further information on the projects run by the Department can be found on the Department's website at:
	www.decc.gov.uk

CABINET OFFICE

Behavioural Insight

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the time that will be spent per civil servant working on the partnership with the New South Wales government on behavioural insight; and what the salary of each civil servant working on this project is;
	(2)  how many civil servants have been recruited or seconded to work on the partnership with the New South Wales government on behavioural insight; and from which departments such staff have been so seconded;
	(3)  how many civil servants will be working on the partnership with the New South Wales government on behavioural insight.

Oliver Letwin: One civil servant at band A level will be working on secondment on a full time basis for the New South Wales government on a salary of £44,300-£59,885 for a period of one year. The secondment includes additional access to and support from members of the behavioural insights team up to a total of 35 man days as follows:
	Director (up to 4 man days) (£115,000 to £125,000 pa)
	Deputy Director (up to 8 man days) (£58,200 to £117,800 pa)
	Band A (up to 8 man days) (£44,300 to £59,885 pa)
	Band B2 (Up to 15 man days) (£29,819 to £38,103 pa)
	No civil servants have been specifically recruited by or seconded to the Cabinet Office to work on the partnership. The full cost to the UK Government of entering into the partnership will be recovered from the New South Wales government.

Freedom of Information Act 2000: e-mail

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what reasons the Cabinet Office guidance on the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to private e-mails was delayed.

Nick Hurd: Guidance will be published shortly.

Lobbying

David Hamilton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2012, Official Report, column 523W, on public consultation, for what reason his Department did not include around 1,300 submissions from individuals generated by Unlock Democracy in its document, A Summary of Responses to the Cabinet Office's Consultation Document, Introducing a Statutory Register of Lobbyists.

Chloe Smith: It is usual practice to summarise overarching themes rather than identify each respondent, particularly in cases where responses are received as part of, or affiliated to, a large campaign. We consider that the vast majority of respondents that replied through Unlock Democracy would recognise that their views have been represented in the Government's summary of responses, even if they have not been personally attributed to them.

Miriam Maes

Caroline Flint: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether (a) Ministers, (b) officials and (c) special advisers in his Department have met Miriam Maes on official business since May 2010.

Francis Maude: Under my Department's transparency programme, lists of meetings with external organisations and individuals are published on the Cabinet Office website:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/
	In line with previous Administrations, the Government do not normally disclose details of internal meetings.

Official Cars

Maria Eagle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether companies competing in the tendering process for the contract to provide back-up cars to departments for ministerial travel will be allowed to re-enter bids if technical specifications in the contract are changed.

Chloe Smith: No amendments have been made to the specification during the invitation to tender process. Once awarded, only variations that are within EU regulations are permissible and any variation or changes to the specification will be carried out specified in the terms of the framework agreement.

Unemployment: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of unemployed (a) women who are single mothers and (b) women with children who have a working spouse or partner in Ashfield constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated 17 October 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent estimate there is of the number of unemployed (a) women who are single mothers and (b) women with children who have a working spouse or partner in Ashfield constituency (123543).
	It is not possible to provide reliable estimates on unemployed women with children who are either single mothers or have a working spouse or partner in the Ashfield constituency due to small sample sizes.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Apprentices

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of how many apprentices are working in the (a) heritage sector, (b) creative industries, (c) tourism sector and (d) arts.

Matthew Hancock: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Information is not available on the number of apprentices currently working in a particular sector. Table 1 shows the provisional number of apprenticeship programme starts by sector subject area in 2011/12 (August 2011 to July 2012).
	Provisional data for the 2011/12 academic year provide an early view of performance and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers. Figures for 2011/12 will be finalised in January 2013.
	
		
			 Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts by sector subject area, 2011/12 (provisional) 
			 Sector subject area 2011/12 (provisional) 
			 Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care 7,420 
			 Arts, Media and Publishing 1,150 
			 Business, Administration and Law 159,290 
			 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 22,960 
			 Education and Training 6,740 
			 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 57,000 
			 Health, Public Services and Care 104,550 
			 Information and Communication Technology 18,190 
			 Languages, Literature and Culture — 
			 Leisure, Travel and Tourism 19,490 
			 Preparation for Life and Work — 
			 Retail and Commercial Enterprise 105,380 
			 Science and Mathematics 360 
			 Unknown — 
			 Total 502,500 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten, except for the total which is rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. ‘—’ indicates a value of less than five. Source: Individualised Learner Record 
		
	
	Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by sector subject area is published in a supplementary table to a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 11 October 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary_tables/

Betting Shops

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many betting shops there were in the UK in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011; what discussions the Government has had with the betting industry about the clustering of betting shops; and whether she plans to announce any changes to the Gambling Act 2005.

Hugh Robertson: The Gambling Commission's Industry Statistics April 2008 to September 2011 show there were 8,862 betting premises in Great Britain in 2008-09, approximately 8,822 in 2009-10 and 9,067 in 2010-11. The Government regularly engage with representatives from the betting industry across a range of issues and this includes concerns from some areas about the impact of betting shops on local communities.
	The Government currently have no plans to amend the Gambling Act 2005 in relation to non-remote gambling, but have recently announced that we will review the evidence around category B2 gaming machines and problem gambling.

Boxing: Females

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what information her Department holds on the number of universities that have provision for women's boxing;
	(2)  what information her Department holds on the number of boxing gyms in the UK that have changing rooms for men and women.

Hugh Robertson: Neither the Department nor Sport England holds this information.

Cultural Heritage

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many undertakings to indemnify objects under section 16 of the National Heritage Act 1980 have been made in each year since 1990 by (a) her Department and its predecessors and (b) the Museums Libraries and Archives Council and its predecessors; what the contingent liabilities were in each case; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The following indemnities were issued on behalf of the Secretary of State for loans to national and non-national museums in England and the Government Art Collection under Section 16 of the National Heritage Act 1980. Records prior to 1997 are incomplete. The figures are presented to Parliament on a bi-annual basis, showing the position at the end of March and September each year.
	
		
			  Number of undertakings Overall contingent liability (£) 
			 1997 469 1,337,264,837 
			 1998 n/a 1,577,106,674 
			 1999 520 2,237,745,568 
			 2000 626 1,834,846,639 
			 2001 647 2,047,816,918 
			 2002 629 2,472,155,792 
		
	
	
		
			 2003 610 2,958,737,461 
			 2004 687 3,182,467,071 
			 2005 1,034 2,751,808,378 
			 2006 1,901 3,092,606,341 
			 2007 1,382 3,171,014,765 
			 2008 1,147 4,142,045,288 
			 2009 440 4,632,741,550 
			 2010 412 5,429,291,971 
			 2011 374 3,910,029,637 
			 2012 467 5,473,501,269

Cultural Heritage

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many individuals have made use of the conditional exemption tax incentive scheme on UK heritage assets in each of the last three years; and how much the Exchequer lost in tax forgone as a result of the conditional exemption tax incentive scheme on UK heritage assets in each of the last three years.

David Gauke: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	The number of individuals making use of the conditional exemption scheme and amounts of inheritance tax foregone are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Level of inheritance tax foregone(1) (£ million) Number of individuals 
			 2009-10 to 2011-12 51 38 
			 (1) The amounts of inheritance tax foregone given are the amounts allowed on claims. Tax will also be received on assets which become liable to Inheritance Tax or Estate Duty when they leave conditional exemption. 
		
	
	It is not possible to show the data for individual years as requested due to the risk of disclosure of information about an individual taxpayer. The data has been totalled across the three years to prevent this.

Gambling

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if she will consider adopting the recommendations by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling to (a) reduce the number of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from four per shop to one, (b) reduce the maximum stake on FOBTs from £100 to £2, (c) to remove table game content from FOBTs and (d) reduce the spin frequency of FOBTs.

Hugh Robertson: The Government have announced that it will undertake a review of the evidence around fixed odds betting terminals—classed as category B2 gaming machines under the Gambling Act 2005—and problem gambling. An announcement about the scope and timing of the review will be made in due course.

Internet

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on the (a) VisitBritain and (b) Enjoy England websites in each month since May 2010.

Hugh Robertson: The Department does not directly fund the VisitBritain and Enjoy England websites. VisitBritain has advised that the following, amounts were spent in the period requested.
	
		
			 £ 
			  (a) VisitBritain (b) Enjoy England 
			 May 2010 7,080 4,720 
			 June 2010 0 0 
			 July 2010 23,200 95,054 
			 August 2010 30,027 23,174 
			 September 2010 14,639 140,369 
			 October 2010 59,510 56,344 
			 November 2010 10,440 6,960 
			 December 2010 7,080 4,720 
			 January 2011 47,253 37,868 
			 February 2011 10,582 13,620 
			 March 2011 113,160 58,102 
			 April 2011 0 0 
			 May 2011 21,240 14,160 
			 June 2011 37,991 25,327 
			 July 2011 23,587 15,725 
			 August 2011 19,610 13,073 
			 September 2011 19,917 13,278 
			 October 2011 2,761 1,841 
			 November 2011 36,136 24,091 
			 December 2011 19,144 21,287 
			 January 2012 17,142 32,004 
			 February 2012 20,602 28,954 
			 March 2012 209,182 190,207 
			 April 2012 0 0 
			 May 2012 0 0 
			 June 2012 0 0 
			 July 2012 24,188 16,125 
			 August 2012 24,795 10,756 
			 September 2012 122,894 0

Internet

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many page hits the (a) VisitBritain and (b) EnjoyEngland website has recorded in each month since May 2010.

Hugh Robertson: This information is not recorded by the Department. VisitBritain and VisitEngland have provided the Department with the following data regarding website hits.
	VisitBritain.com
	Prior to February 2012 VisitBritain used a different provider to measure website visits. The previous system was terminated as it was inaccurately measuring site traffic. Since February 2012 VisitBritain have used Google Analytics, which is a more accurate tool. Therefore, the data prior to February 2012 is not comparable to that post February 2012.
	
		
			  Visits 
			 2010  
			 May 1,437,572 
			 June 1,223,346 
			 July 651,993 
			 August 623,009 
			 September 502,912 
			 October 697,529 
			 November 413,297 
		
	
	
		
			 December 313,709 
			   
			 2011  
			 January 471,208 
			 February 832,365 
			 March 566,289 
			 April 418,628 
			 May 410,554 
			 June 359,162 
			 July 330,517 ' 
			 August 328,413 
			 September 175,412 
			 October 177,771 
			 November 165,283 
			 December 165,283 
			   
			 2012  
			 January 410,831 
			 February 675,457 
			 March 857,505 
			 April 540,172 
			 May 564,841 
			 June 522,636 
			 July 495,184 
			 August 510,419 
			 September 685,000 
		
	
	EnjoyEngland.com
	
		
			  Visits 
			 2010  
			 May 719,106 
			 June 614,964 
			 July 843,116 
			 August 862,311 
			 September 443,163 
			 October 371,772 
			 November 413,330 
			 December 235,157 
			   
			 2011  
			 January 369,371 
			 February 349,371 
			 March 458,645 
			 April 262,865 
			 May 186,094 
			 June 135,180 
			 July 134,768 
			 August 146,197 
			 September 92,362 
			 October 97,252 
			 November 111,256 
			 December 99,330 
			   
			 2012  
			 January 128,517 
			 February 111,748 
			 March 210,036 
			 April 178,220 
			 May 162,334 
			 June 145,753 
			 July 150,072 
		
	
	
		
			 August 166,253 
			 September 137,772

Departmental Meetings

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with representatives from the (i) National Lottery Commission, (ii) National Maritime Museum, (iii) National Museum of Science and Industry (iv) National Portrait Gallery, (v) National Gallery, (vi) National Heritage Memorial Fund (Heritage Lottery Fund), (vii) Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, (viii) Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, (ix) Museum of London, (x) Millennium Commission, (xi) Imperial War Museum, (xii) the Tate, (xiii) Horserace Betting Levy Board, (xiv) Football Licensing Authority, (xv) Horniman Public Museum and Public Park Trust, (xvi) Historic Royal Palaces, (xvii) Gaming Board, (xviii) Geffrye Museum, (ixx) English Heritage (xx) CABE, (xxi) Big Lottery Fund, (xxii) Arts Council England, (xxiii) Alcohol Education and Research Council, (xxiv) Churches Conservation Trust and (xxv) British Museum since May 2010; and what issues were discussed in each meeting.

Hugh Robertson: A list of ministerial meetings since May 2010 is available on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) transparency website, which can be found at this web address:
	www.transparency.culture.gov.uk
	The Department does not record details of meetings between DCMS Officials and the bodies listed above, and to collate this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Music: Pilot Schemes

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how many pilot music rehearsal spaces will continue to provide a space for young people to play music after the pilot project has ended;
	(2)  what steps her Department has taken to assess the effect of its pilot music rehearsal spaces.

Edward Vaizey: UK Music, the umbrella organisation representing the collective interests of Britain's commercial music industry, now has responsibility for the pilot music rehearsal spaces. A report into the spaces has been commissioned by Sound Connections and will be published in November 2012. This report is a retrospective survey looking back over the project from 2009. It will cover, where data are available, aspects including usage, reach and impact. Sound Connections is an independent organisation focused on helping the delivery of high quality music-making and is responsible for managing the rehearsal space contracts with local authorities. UK Music is currently developing a strategy for the future of the spaces with the help of the UK Music Board, the all party parliamentary group on music and rock.

Music: Pilot Schemes

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to support grass-roots music development;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to support grass-roots music development for young people in areas of (a) urban and (b) rural deprivation;
	(3)  what steps she is taking to improve access for young people to publicly-funded music facilities.

Edward Vaizey: Through the Department for Education funding administered by the Arts Council (more than £171 million of funding between August 2012 and March 2015), a network of 122 music education hubs are taking forward the work of local authority music services, helping improve the quality and consistency of music education across England, both in and out of school. Also, in partnership with the Department for Education, the Arts Council has funded the 'In Harmony' programme which uses music to bring positive change to the lives of children in disadvantaged areas of England, delivering benefits across the wider community.
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) provides funding for the arts in England, supporting the sector to maximise its impact on people's lives, often in partnership with arm's length bodies and many other public, private and voluntary organisations. DCMS funding is distributed through Arts Council England, the development agency for the arts in England which makes all funding decisions at ‘arm's length' from Government. The Arts Council funds organisations and initiatives to deliver artistic and audience development, and increase participation. Some of the initiatives that the Arts Council delivers in support of grass-roots music development are as follows:
	Youth Music (a Delegated Lottery Distributor of the Arts Council) has a specific focus on supporting young people's music making, particularly for those with least opportunity. Funding priorities include helping disadvantaged children and young people, encouraging talent and potential, improving music leadership and music for under-5s.
	Through its National Portfolio, the Arts Council funds organisations such as 'Urban Development' and 'Bigga Fish' which focus on offering developmental opportunities for emerging talent, including children and young people as well as young adults. In addition, across the range of music organisations funded by the Arts Council—from orchestras and opera companies to rock and pop organisations—many offer musical opportunities for children and young people.

Public Consultation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what formal consultations are being sponsored by her Department and its agencies; and what the (a) commencement date and (b) deadline for responses is for each such consultation.

Hugh Robertson: Details of all consultations undertaken by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport can be found on the following webpage:
	www.culture.gov.uk/consultations
	The Department's only agency, The Royal Parks, currently has no consultations running.

Recruitment

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills of new recruits to her Department.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) conducts a rigorous assessment of the necessary skills of new employees through the completion of a comprehensive application form and formal interview, which are based on the DCMS core competence framework and the requirements for the specific job. Where specialist roles are advertised, candidates are expected to provide evidence of their qualifications and will be assessed against the relevant civil service professional skills competencies.

Tourism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport which 10 tourist attractions in England (a) had the most visitors and (b) raised the most revenue in each of the last two years.

Hugh Robertson: This information is not held by the Department. However, VisitEngland conducts an Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions, the top ten of which in the last two years have been provided in the following table. Visit England does not record the revenue raised by these attractions.
	Participation in the survey is not mandatory, and therefore some attractions—most notably from the Merlin Group—are not included in these tables.
	
		
			 2011 visitor numbers 
			 Free attractions 
			  Visits 
			 British Museum 5,848,534 
			 National Gallery 5,253,216 
			 Natural History Museum 4,873,275 
			 Tate Modern 4,802,387 
			 Science Museum 2,894,850 
			 Victoria and Albert Museum 2,789,400 
			 National Portrait Gallery 1,880,104 
			 Old Royal Naval College 1,673,998 
			 Tate Britain 1,488,358 
			 British Library 1,484,900 
		
	
	
		
			 Paid attractions 
			  Visits 
			 Tower of London 2,554,746 
			 Westminster Abbey 1,899,956 
			 St Paul's Cathedral 1,819,925 
			 Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo 1,427,193 
			 Chester Zoo 1,425,319 
			 Windermere Lake Cruises, Bowness 1,350,081 
			 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Gardens 1,188,933 
			 Stonehenge 1,099,656 
			 ZSL London Zoo 1,090,741 
		
	
	
		
			 Houses of Parliament and Big Ben 1,054,151 
		
	
	
		
			 2010 visitor numbers 
			 Free attractions 
			  Visits 
			 British Museum 5,842,000 
			 Tate Modern 5,061,172 
			 National Gallery 4,954,914 
			 Natural History Museum 4,647,613 
			 Science Museum 2,757,917 
			 Victoria and Albert Museum 2,629,065 
			 National Portrait Gallery 1,819,442 
			 Tate Britain 1,665,291 
			 Royal Observatory Greenwich 1,576,640 
			 British Library 1,454,612 
		
	
	
		
			 Paid attractions 
			  Visits 
			 Tower of London 2,414,541 
			 St Paul's Cathedral 1,892,467 
			 Westminster Abbey 1,394,427 
			 Windermere Lake Cruises, Bowness 1,312,423 
			 Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo 1,268,619 
			 Chester Zoo 1,154,285 
		
	
	
		
			 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Gardens 1,141,973 
			 ZSL London Zoo 1,011,257 
			 Stonehenge 1,009,973 
			 Eden Project 1,000,511

Tourism: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the (a) number of tourists and (b) revenue from tourism in the North West in each of the last three years.

Hugh Robertson: This information is not recorded by the Department. Data relating to inbound tourism to the North West is recorded via the Office for National Statistics International Passenger Survey (IPS), and domestic tourism data are recorded by VisitEngland.
	IPS data
	
		
			  Inbound staying visits (Thousand) Inbound spend (£ million) 
			 2011 2,380 956 
			 2010 2,165 1,021 
			 2009 2,110 801 
		
	
	VisitEngland data
	Domestic tourism day visits were measured in 2011 for the first time since 2005, and therefore this data is not available for 2009 and 2010.
	
		
			  Domestic overnight trips (Thousand) Domestic overnight nights (Thousand) Domestic overnight spend (£ million) Domestic tourism day visits (Thousand) Domestic tourism day trips spend (£ million) 
			 2011 13,987 37,067 1,603 173 5,828 
			 2010 12,249 33,689 1,376 n/a n/a 
			 2009 13,474 37,128 1,426 n/a n/a

JUSTICE

Administration of Justice

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what justice services have been put out to tender for the first time in the last 12 months.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice has had the following justice services put out to tender for the first time in the last 12 months: Community Payback London (awarded 24 July 2012), a number of Payment by Results pilots, Service User Engagement Project, Mapping of current Parenting Skills and Relationship Skills, HMYOI Wetherby—Youth Workers Project and HMYOI Wetherby—Industrial Cleaning Course.

Bribery Act 2010

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to publish new guidelines to the Bribery Act 2010.

Damian Green: There are no plans to publish new guidance to the Bribery Act 2010. The guidance was drafted in March 2011 following a thorough consultation exercise by the Ministry of Justice with several interested parties including the business community.

Bribery Act 2010

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has received any recent representations from FTSE companies regarding possible changes to the guidance to the Bribery Act 2010.

Damian Green: The guidance was drafted in March 2011 following a thorough consultation exercise by the Ministry of Justice with several interested parties including the business community. The guidance reflects their views and any concerns that were raised. There nave been no subsequent representations from FTSE companies regarding changes to the guidance to the Bribery Act 2010. There are no plans to amend the guidance or the Act.
	The Government are committed to the Bribery Act and are confident that both the Act and its guidance represent a robust and proportionate response to bribery both in the UK and overseas.

Courts: Interpreters

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many complaints his Department has received on the contract awarded for interpretation in court proceedings;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the changes to the interpretation arrangements in courts in England and Wales;
	(3)  whether court interpreters are checked by the Criminal Records Bureau; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The information is as follows:
	(1) Complaints are directed to ALS as the contractor and are monitored by the Department. Statistics published last week by the Ministry of Justice on interpretation services show that there were 72,043 completed requests for language services. ALS received 3,937 complaints between 30 January and 31 August 2012. In criminal courts and prisons the complaints rate has decreased from 9.9% in February to 1.4% in August, in civil and family courts from 5.8% to 0.6% and in tribunals from 17.1% to 5.2%
	(2) We remain satisfied that this contract is the right way forward to ensure interpreters of the appropriate quality and value for money on behalf of the public. The Ministry of Justice had strong reasons for changing the old interpreter booking system, which was inadequate in several respects, and this was acknowledged by the National Audit Office report of 10 September 2012. While we accept that there were an unacceptable number of problems at the start of the contract performance has improved significantly and the statistics published yesterday confirm that trend.
	(3) Capita, the contractor which books interpreters for court and tribunal hearings, is obliged to ensure that they have appropriate qualifications, skills, experience and are appropriately vetted to at least Enhanced CRB or Non-Police Personal Vetting Level 2. Our procurement specialists are carrying out spot checks to verify the vetting and qualification checks that have been undertaken by Capita.

Debt Collection

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when his Department plans to publish its response to the consultation Transforming Bailiff Action.

Helen Grant: The Government plans to publish the response to the “Transforming Bailiff Action” consultation this autumn.

Debt Collection

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will undertake an investigation into the practices of private bailiff firms.

Helen Grant: There are currently no plans to undertake an investigation into the practices of private bailiff firms. The Ministry of Justice issued the "Transforming Bailiff Action" consultation paper in February 2012 and plans to publish the response this autumn.

Legal Aid Scheme: Fraud

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to improve the reporting of legal aid fraud; and what guidance his Department publishes on such fraud.

Damian Green: To improve the reporting of legal aid fraud, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) has built relationships with key stakeholders in the justice system, including the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, the Department of Work and Pensions and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to share information on potential fraudulent activities that may include legal aid fraud. The LSC has routes available to the public and other interested parties to report suspicions of legal aid fraud, such as the representations process for legal aid funding, its complaints procedure and a dedicated e-mail address for allegations of fraudulent activity:
	allegations@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk.
	The LSC is considering whether an enhanced web presence and the introduction of a telephone based hotline to report fraud would be of value to the taxpayer.
	The LSC actively audits legal aid providers and reviews the decisions it makes on legal aid funding. In these activities if any potential fraud is identified, this is passed to the LSC's Counter-Fraud Team to consider.
	The LSC works with a variety of media to get coverage of successful prosecutions of legal aid fraud. In the past year there have been nine successful prosecutions for legal aid fraud and articles on these have appeared in the specialist journals, local newspapers and national press.
	The LSC does not publish detailed guidance on fraud in order to maintain the integrity of its fraud detection and prevention procedures.
	In line with best practice, the LSC has a Counter-Fraud Strategy, policy and response plan. These are not published widely but they are available through the Freedom of Information process. The Annual Report and Business Plan outline activity the LSC is taking to deal with fraud. Both of these documents are published on the LSC's website.

Legal Aid Scheme: Fraud

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how an individual should report legal aid fraud.

Damian Green: If an individual believes that a member of the public has fraudulently obtained legal aid they can use the representations process. The representations process is the process whereby opponents and third parties can submit information to the LSC to challenge the award of legal aid on an individual case. This information is then considered by the LSC and, if necessary, investigated further. To use this process, individuals can either telephone the LSC's contact centre on 0300 200 2020 or write to the Representations team at:
	The Representations Manager
	Legal Services Commission
	5(th) Floor, Boulton House
	17-21 Chorlton Street
	Manchester
	Ml 3HY
	DX 14343 Manchester
	To report any other suspected fraud, including by solicitors, barristers and experts, individuals can contact the LSC's Counter-Fraud team at:
	allegations@Jegalservices.gsi.uuv.uk
	The more specific information that an individual can give the better. It should be noted that as investigations often involve in depth reviews of peoples circumstances, the results of the investigation and why it reached the conclusions it did often cannot be reported back to the individual who alerted the LSC to the potential fraud.

Marriage: Ceremonies

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received (a) in support of and (b) in opposition to permitting outdoor wedding ceremonies.

Helen Grant: Since January 2010. the Ministry of Justice has received seven letters directly in favour of marriage ceremonies being conducted outdoors. In the same period, we have received over 100 pieces of correspondence from Humanists wishing to marry in accordance with their beliefs, some of whom wish to marry outdoors. We have also held discussions with the British Humanist Association about Humanist marriages. The Ministry of Justice has received no representations against permitting marriages to be held outdoors.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are given work inside HM Prison Oakwood; and how many prisoners are not given such work.

Jeremy Wright: The number of prisoners in work at HMP Oakwood varies on a daily basis, depending upon prisoners' sentence plans and other requirements. At present, of approximately 926 prisoners currently in the establishment, 52% are in work, 29% in education or vocational training and 19% not in work or accredited programmes.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what prisoners in HM Prison Oakwood are paid for their work.

Jeremy Wright: At HMP Oakwood prisoners are paid according to the type of work they undertake and the level they have attained in the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme. Pay scales vary from £2.50 per week for some prisoners at the “basic” level, to £15 per week for prisoners at the “enhanced” level working in industries.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what range of work is available to prisoners in HM Prison Oakwood.

Jeremy Wright: At HMP Oakwood, work done by prisoners includes carpentry projects; horticulture; maintenance work; groundsmanship; wing work; industrial cleaning; recycling work (with external partners at a range of skill levels); packing; assembly; peer-mentoring; basic engineering; painting; work in the servery; work as an orderly in the library, the first-night and reception area or gymnasium; and kitchen work.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which companies hold contracts for work undertaken by prisoners in HM Prison Oakwood.

Jeremy Wright: At present, HMP Oakwood holds contracts or agreements with Rethinking Recycling Ltd (a provider of services to other larger organisations), Fern Plastic Products Ltd (a manufacturer of plastic goods), Network 2 Supplies Ltd (a recycling company) and Aramark Ltd (a provider of catering services).

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are engaged in full-time education at HM Prison Oakwood.

Jeremy Wright: The number of prisoners engaged in full-time education varies on a daily basis, depending upon prisoners' sentence plans and other requirements. On average, 273 prisoners a day attend education or training through the prison's contract with the Offenders' Learning and Skills Service. The prison is planning to bring in other providers in November, to increase its educational capacity.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much prisoners are charged to hire telephones for personal use at HM Prison Oakwood.

Jeremy Wright: Prisoners at HMP Oakwood are able to purchase a telephone for personal use. The cost is £10, payable at a rate of 50p per week.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department holds on the frequency with which bedding is changed at HM Prison Oakwood.

Jeremy Wright: The laundry orderly at HMP Oakwood washes all bedding on a rota basis at least once a week. Prisoners are encouraged to take responsibility for their own laundry; and laundry facilities and detergent are provided on all wings.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners HM Prison Oakwood has held in each week since it opened.

Jeremy Wright: The following table contains information on the number of prisoners held at HMP Oakwood on each Tuesday following its opening on 24 April 2012.
	
		
			  Number 
			 1 May 31 
			 8 May 43 
			 15 May 42 
			 22 May 58 
			 29 May 101 
			 5 June 135 
			 12 June 181 
			 19 June 221 
			 26 June 287 
			 3 July 348 
		
	
	
		
			 10 July 404 
			 17 July 470 
			 24 July 549 
			 31 July 613 
			 7 August 663 
			 14 August 672 
			 21 August 685 
			 28 August 691 
			 4 September 726 
			 11 September 787 
			 18 September 829 
			 25 September 863 
			 2 October 914 
			 9 October 916 
			 16 October 926

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was to the prison service of each prisoner held in HM Prison Oakwood in each week since the prison opened.

Jeremy Wright: NOMS does not publish weekly costs per prisoner or prison place. The minimum accounting period for which costs are recorded is by month. Using the monthly expenditure figures for HMP Oakwood recorded on the NOMS central accounting system, together with the average number of prisoners held at HMP Oakwood, an average cost per prisoner has been calculated and is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Provisional cost per prisoner (£) 
			 July 2012 2,985 
			 August 2012 2,275 
			 September 2012 2,147 
			 Notes: 1. The costs per prisoner are based on payments to the private sector contractor plus other costs not included in the contract, for example business rates and utilities, and the average population for each period from weekly prison population data. 2. Average cost per prisoner figures will continue to decline from a high initial position because the prisoner population is building up from the opening date of 24 April 2012 and operational capacity has not yet been reached. 3. It is NOMS operating policy that the prison population is built up slowly at all new prisons. This allows the regime to bed in, and reduces safety and control issues during the early operational period. As the number of prisoners was very low in the first three months after opening, the figures are not reliable and have therefore not been shown. 4. Prison costs are published annually based on the audited annual accounts, so the above figures which include some estimation should be considered as provisional.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the procedure is for prisoners to have bedding sent in by families at HM Prison Oakwood.

Jeremy Wright: No bedding is permitted to be sent in to HMP Oakwood. Prisoners are issued with bedding on arrival (including quilt, quilt cover, mattress, mattress cover, pillow case and pillow). Prisoners are also able to purchase their own bedding via the approved suppliers system.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff have been appointed to work at HM Prison Oakwood since it opened.

Jeremy Wright: 460 people have been recruited by G4S Care and Justice Services (UK) Ltd to work at HMP Oakwood.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff have ceased to work at HM Prison Oakwood since it opened.

Jeremy Wright: 23 members of staff have ceased to work at HMP Oakwood since it opened.

HMP Oakwood

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements he has made for providing prisoners with drinking water at HMP Oakwood.

Jeremy Wright: At HMP Oakwood, all prisoners have access to drinking water, through the taps in their cells.

Offences Against Children

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there have been for under-age sex in the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants found guilty at all courts for sexual activity with a child under 16 years of age, and rape of a child, in England and Wales, from 2007 to 2011 can be viewed in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for sexual activity with a child under 16 years of age, and rape of a child, England and Wales, 2007-11(1)(, )(2) 
			 Offence 2007 2008(3) 2009 2010 2011 
			 Causing, inciting, engaging in, sexual activity with a female or male child under 16 years of age(4) 769 839 877 1,003 985 
			 Rape and attempted rape of a female or male under 16 years of age(5) 434 473 512 550 642 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (4) Includes offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003: sections 4(1)-(5); 8(1)(2)(3); 9(1)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii),(2)(3); 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(2)(3); 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(2); 12(1)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(2); 13 (5) Includes offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003: sections 1 and 5. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Offensive Weapons

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals aged 18 or younger (a) have been prosecuted for and (b) have received a custodial sentence for an offence of carrying a bladed or pointed article in a public place in England and Wales in each year since 2010.

Jeremy Wright: The number of individuals, aged 18 or younger (a) proceeded against and (b) received a custodial sentence for having a bladed or pointed article in a public place in England and Wales, in 2010 and 2011, can be viewed in the following table.
	
		
			 Defendants aged 18 or under proceeded against at magistrates courts and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for having an article with a blade or point in a public place, England and Wales, 2010-11(1,2) 
			  Proceeded against Sentenced to immediate custody 
			 2010 1,613 130 
			 2011 1,474 126 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Prison Service: Staff

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers were working in each prison in England and Wales in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: Information on the number of prison officers at each Prison Service establishment in England and Wales on 31 August 2010, 2011 and 2012 is contained in the following table:
	
		
			 Prison officers by establishment 
			 Public sector prisons 
			 Headcount 
			  31 August 2010 31 August 2011 31 August 2012 
			 Ashwell (closed) 94 — — 
			 Askham Grange 26 23 23 
			 Aylesbury 159 150 145 
			 Bedford 143 141 141 
			 Belmarsh 508 497 485 
			 Birmingham (now contracted) 494 449 — 
			 Blantyre House 31 31 32 
			 Blundeston 150 142 130 
			 Brinsford 237 225 210 
			 Bristol 210 199 194 
			 Brixton 211 200 173 
			 Buckley Hall 102 107 99 
			 Bullingdon 263 258 254 
			 Bullwood Hall 72 70 64 
			 Bure 152 153 147 
			 Canterbury 106 103 97 
			 Cardiff 267 268 255 
			 Channings Wood 178 180 175 
			 Chelmsford 214 217 210 
			 Coldingley 131 129 117 
			 Cookham Wood 125 138 132 
			 Dartmoor 163 160 145 
			 Deerbolt 178 179 167 
			 Dorchester 105 103 107 
			 Dover 123 127 127 
			 Downview 120 118 115 
		
	
	
		
			 Drake Hall 89 88 78 
			 Durham 311 300 256 
			 East Sutton Park 22 22 23 
			 Eastwood Park 151 145 145 
			 Erlesloke and Shepton Mallet — 182 176 
			 Erlestoke 119 — — 
			 Shepton Mallet 63 — — 
			 Everthorpe 168 155 159 
			 Exeter 176 175 165 
			 Featherstone 150 147 146 
			 Feltham 403 387 385 
			 Ford 60 60 57 
			 Foston Hall 140 115 110 
			 Frankland 604 603 579 
			 Full Sutton 444 431 418 
			 Garth 276 263 247 
			 Gartree 221 218 192 
			 Glen Parva 250 251 231 
			 Gloucester 126 120 118 
			 Grendon 135 137 133 
			 Guys Marsh 130 125 126 
			 Haslar 50 49 51 
			 Haverigg 140 134 123 
			 Hewell 330 333 309 
			 High Down 260 251 265 
			 Highpoint 197 281 266 
			 Edmunds Hill 109 — — 
			 Hindley 260 257 247 
			 Hollesley Bay 52 52 56 
			 Holloway 226 221 198 
			 Holme House 336 334 330 
			 Hull 308 307 299 
			 Huntercombe 141 107 101 
			 Isis 125 148 177 
			 Isle of Wight — 447 417 
			 Isle of Wight Cluster 44 — — 
			 Albany 139 — — 
			 Parkhurst 147 — — 
			 Camp Hill 143 — — 
			 Kennet 136 131 124 
			 Kingston 67 62 58 
			 Kirkham 87 94 80 
			 Kirklevington Grange 51 52 48 
			 Lancaster (closed) 83 — — 
			 Lancaster Farms 216 221 193 
			 Latchmere House (closed) 35 33 — 
			 Leeds 383 362 331 
			 Leicester 138 135 122 
			 Lewes 206 201 203 
			 Leyhill 69 71 68 
			 Lincoln 207 197 184 
			 Lindholme 240 228 205 
			 Littlehey 271 269 244 
			 Liverpool 366 341 311 
			 Long Lartin 403 394 378 
			 Low Newton 141 137 137 
			 Maidstone 144 134 129 
			 Manchester 503 487 486 
		
	
	
		
			 Moorland 305 302 288 
			 Morton Hall 104 117 124 
			 New Hall 206 202 194 
			 North Sea Camp 56 52 49 
			 Northallerton 62 62 63 
			 Northumberland — — 380 
			 Acklington 235 406 — 
			 Castington 206 — — 
			 Norwich 211 199 192 
			 Nottingham 317 312 302 
			 Onley 204 183 147 
			 Pentonville 379 361 355 
			 Portland 200 193 171 
			 Preston 261 261 253 
			 Ranby 253 240 229 
			 Reading 98 106 102 
			 Risley 283 276 264 
			 Rochester 233 220 209 
			 Send 90 88 94 
			 Sheppey Cluster 186 122 99 
			 Swaleside 265 265 264 
			 Elmley 231 274 246 
			 Standford Hill 58 67 68 
			 Shrewsbury 113 109 108 
			 Stafford 184 177 172 
			 Stocken 188 199 196 
			 Stoke Heath 237 228 219 
			 Styal 184 171 164 
			 Sudbury 64 65 59 
			 Swansea 148 146 144 
			 Swinfen Hall 201 194 184 
			 The Mount 158 151 146 
			 The Verne 107 105 102 
			 Thorn Cross 100 93 90 
			 Usk/Prescoed 90 89 88 
			 Wakefield 425 420 404 
			 Wandsworth 427 399 372 
			 Warren Hill 142 140 149 
			 Wayland 214 216 207 
			 Wealstun 205 208 189 
			 Wellingborough 143 130 128 
			 Werrington 86 90 91 
			 Wetherby 232 245 231 
			 Whatton 189 193 177 
			 Whitemoor 411 393 379 
			 Winchester 201 189 175 
			 Wood hill 452 440 421 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 310 309 327 
			 Wymott 268 275 263 
		
	
	
		
			 Contracted prisons 
			 Headcount 
			  31 August 2010 31 August 2011 31 August 2012 
			 Altcourse 362 346 315 
			 Ashfield 146 161 145 
			 Birmingham 323 323 317 
			 Bronzefield 185 191 171 
			 Doncaster 204 201 179 
			 Dovegate 262 258 238 
			 Forest Bank 310 279 268 
			 Lowdham 212 212 215 
		
	
	
		
			 Oakwood 18 20 258 
			 Parc 315 323 331 
			 Peterborough 322 322 305 
			 Rye Hill 139 130 132 
			 Thameside — — 117 
			 Wolds 91 86 94 
			 Notes: 1. These figures include prison officers, senior officers, principal officers and graduate trainee officers in public sector prisons. 2. For contracted prisons the grades covered are prison custody officer, senior prison custody officer and principal officer. 3. Information relates to all prison establishments, including young offender institutions and immigration removal centres. 4. Some prisons have merged or changed name during the period. The names shown in the table are as they were at the time. 5. Acklington and Castington; Edmunds Hill and Highpoint; and Shepton Mallet and Erlestoke are currently reported as single sites. 6. Acklington and Castington merged to become Northumberland in October 2011. 7. Sheppey and Isle of Wight are cluster prisons. Some of the data are shown separately for the constituent parts. 8. Ashwell and Lancaster closed in March 2011. 9. Latchmere House closed in September 2011. 10. Birmingham transferred to management of G4S in October 2011. 11. Thameside and Oakwood opened in Spring 2012.

Prisons: Contracts

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to review personally the market testing evaluation process of prisons.

Jeremy Wright: The Secretary of State has reviewed the evaluation process and recommendation for Stage 1 of Phase 2 of the prisons competition programme. He is content that the evaluation process was robust. He plans to make an announcement shortly.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many (a) women and (b) men are subject to risk of sexual harm orders in each police authority area;
	(2)  how many convicted sex offenders are eligible for a review of their indeterminate notification requirement in each probation service area;
	(3)  how many applications were made to courts in England to (a) vary, (b) renew and (c) discharge a risk of sexual harm order in each police authority area in each of the last seven years;
	(4)  how many convicted sex offenders have applied for a review of their indeterminate notification requirements since July 2012.

Jeremy Browne: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	Home Office IT systems will need to be interrogated to ascertain whether the relevant data is held in the format requested. Where it is available, it will take a considerable period of time to extract the relevant data. As such, I will write to the hon. Member by Wednesday 7 November with responses to these questions. I will place a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost to the public purse is of a review of an indeterminate notification requirement for a convicted sex offender.

Jeremy Browne: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	It is estimated the average cost of a review is in the region of £760. An impact assessment providing full details of costing has been published on the Home Office website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/legislation/sexual-offences-remedial-order/review-offenders-indef-notif-ia?view=Binary
	A copy has been placed in the House Library.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what plans he has to increase the number of years before an application may be made by a convicted sex offender to review an indeterminate notification requirement;
	(2)  what plans he has to increase the notification period for sex offenders sentenced to a prison sentence of (a) more than six months but less than 30 months, (b) six months or less and (c) a caution under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Jeremy Browne: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	The Government are confident that we have a robust framework in place to manage registered sex offenders and have no plans to increase the notification periods for sex offenders or to increase the number of years before an offender is eligible to apply for a review of their indefinite notification requirements.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders convicted of a sexual offence under schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are on licence in each probation service area.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number of offenders being supervised after release from custody for all indictable sexual offences, by probation trust as at 31 December 2011. It is not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of a sexual offence under schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
	Figures for specific offences under schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 could only be derived by matching individual level sentencing records back to probation records; this would incur disproportionate cost.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			 Offenders supervised by each probation trust at 31 December 2011 for indictable sexual offences 
			 Probation trust Total offenders 
			 Avon and Somerset 72 
			 Bedfordshire 22 
			 Cambridgeshire 40 
			 Cheshire 52 
			 Durham Tees Valley 75 
		
	
	
		
			 Cumbria 21 
			 Derbyshire 63 
			 Devon and Cornwall 77 
			 Dorset 38 
			 Essex 74 
			 Gloucestershire 27 
			 Hampshire 103 
			 West Mercia 56 
			 Hertfordshire 20 
			 Humberside 63 
			 Kent 89 
			 Lancashire 118 
			 Leicestershire 42 
			 Lincolnshire 40 
			 Greater Manchester 218 
			 Merseyside 75 
			 Norfolk and Suffolk 97 
			 Northamptonshire 58 
			 Northumbria 87 
			 Nottinghamshire 65 
			 Thames Valley 95 
			 Staffordshire and West Midlands 250 
			 Surrey and Sussex 113 
			 Warwickshire 23 
			 Wiltshire 21 
			 North Yorkshire 44 
			 South Yorkshire 70 
			 West Yorkshire 123 
			 Wales 163 
			 London 339

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average age is of (a) male and (b) female prisoners serving a prison sentence for a sexual offence under schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Jeremy Wright: As of 30 June 2012, of those in prison under an immediate custodial sentence for all sexual offences, the average age of males was 43 years and for females it was 37 years. It is not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of a sexual offence under schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners convicted of an offence under Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are serving prison sentences in each probation service area;
	(2)  how many prisoners were charged with a sexual offence under Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in each probation service area in the last year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The data given in the following tables provide information on the number of prisoners under an immediate custodial sentence for all sexual offences by probation trust in which the prison is located. It is not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of a sexual offence under schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
	
		
			 Male prison population serving an immediate custodial sentence for sexual offences by probation trust in which the prison is located, England and Wales, 30 June 2012 
			 Probation trust Number of prisoners 
			 Avon and Somerset 118 
			 Bedfordshire 22 
			 Cambridgeshire 611 
			 Cheshire 179 
			 Cumbria 6 
			 Derbyshire 3 
			 Devon and Cornwall 435 
			 Dorset 35 
			 Durham Tees Valley 423 
			 Essex 30 
			 Gloucestershire 18 
			 Greater Manchester 189 
			 Hampshire 878 
			 Hertfordshire 1 
			 Humberside 453 
			 Kent 524 
			 Lancashire 556 
			 Leicestershire 85 
			 Lincolnshire 188 
			 London 296 
			 Merseyside 163 
			 Norfolk and Suffolk 583 
			 Northamptonshire 159 
			 Northumbria 376 
			 Nottinghamshire 834 
			 South Yorkshire 401 
			 Staffordshire and West Midlands 761 
			 Surrey and Sussex 124 
			 Thames Valley 389 
			 Wales 528 
			 West Mercia 376 
			 West Yorkshire 568 
			 Wiltshire 72 
			 North Yorkshire 6 
			 Total 10,390 
			 Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. 
		
	
	
		
			 Female prison population serving an immediate custodial sentence for sexual offences by probation trust in which the prison is located, England and Wales, 30 June 2012 
			 Probation trust Number of prisoners 
			 Avon and Somerset 6 
			 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 8 
			 Cheshire 6 
			 Derbyshire 9 
			 Durham Tees Valley 10 
			 Kent 1 
			 London 6 
			 Staffordshire and West Midlands 5 
			 Surrey and Sussex 23 
			 West Yorkshire 9 
			 Total 83 
			 Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. 
		
	
	
		
			 Total prison population serving an immediate custodial sentence for sexual offences by probation trust in which the prison is located, England and Wales, 30 June 2012 
			 Probation trust Number of prisoners 
			 Avon and Somerset 124 
			 Bedfordshire 22 
			 Cambridgeshire 619 
			 Cheshire 185 
			 Cumbria 6 
			 Derbyshire 12 
			 Devon and Cornwall 435 
			 Dorset 35 
			 Durham Tees Valley 433 
			 Essex 30 
			 Gloucestershire 18 
			 Greater Manchester 189 
			 Hampshire 878 
			 Hertfordshire 1 
			 Humberside 453 
			 Kent 525 
			 Lancashire 556 
			 Leicestershire 85 
			 Lincolnshire 188 
			 London 302 
			 Merseyside 163 
			 Norfolk and Suffolk 583 
			 Northamptonshire 159 
			 Northumbria 376 
			 Nottinghamshire 834 
			 South Yorkshire 401 
			 Staffordshire and West Midlands 766 
			 Surrey and Sussex 147 
			 Thames Valley 389 
			 Wales 528 
			 West Mercia 376 
			 West Yorkshire 577 
			 Wiltshire 72 
			 North Yorkshire 6 
			 Total 10,473 
			 Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Squatting

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  if he will estimate the total cost of damage to buildings by squatters in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  if he will estimate the total amount that property owners spent on removing squatters in the latest period for which figures are available.

Damian Green: Figures are not held centrally but responses to last year's consultation on ‘Options for Dealing with Squatting’ showed that property owners could spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds seeking to evict squatters and repairing any damage they had left behind. The new offence of squatting in a residential building should mean that residential property owners no longer need to spend time and money seeking to evict squatters because they can report them to the police.

HEALTH

Abortion

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what medical evidence his Department holds which supports a reduction in the period of time within which an abortion may lawfully be carried out.

Anna Soubry: The Department keeps the international evidence on this issue under review. Decisions on changing the law on abortion are a matter for Parliament, as it is established practice that any proposals to change the law on abortion come from backbench members and are made on the basis of free votes.

Abortion

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions have been undertaken (a) up to and including and (b) after the twelfth week of pregnancy in each year since 2008.

Anna Soubry: The information requested is set out in the following table. 2011 is the latest year for which data is available.
	
		
			 Abortions by gestation group, residents of England and Wales, 2008-11 
			  Under 13 weeks 13 weeks and over Total 
			 2011 173,176 16,755 189,931 
			 2010 172,735 16,839 189,574 
			 2009 171,279 17,821 189,100 
			 2008 176,306 18,990 195,296

Abortion

James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place to ensure the minimum clinical standards which the NHS requires for treatments provided in house are maintained by those organisations to which the NHS contracts out the carrying out of abortions.

Anna Soubry: Termination of pregnancy is regulated and all providers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet essential standards of quality and safety. Regulation 20 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 also sets out a number of requirements relating to a termination of a pregnancy and independent sector providers.
	The Abortion Act 1967 requires that any treatment for a termination of a pregnancy outside of a national health service hospital may only be carried out in a place approved for that purpose by the Secretary of State for Health. The Secretary of State's continuing approval requires that all providers ensure compliance with all legal requirements, provide the best quality of care for women and have in place sound management, organisational and clinical governance arrangements. These requirements apply equally to all places the Secretary of State for Health approves, regardless of whether they hold contracts with the NHS or not.

Accident and Emergency Departments: North East

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the capacity of accident and emergency departments in hospitals in the North East Ambulance Service area; and what steps he is taking to ensure they have the capacity to treat promptly patients admitted by emergency ambulance.

Anna Soubry: The Department has made no assessment of the capacity of accident and emergency departments in hospitals in the North East Ambulance Service area. It is for local NHS trusts to ensure capacity when patients are admitted to hospital by emergency ambulance, and to have strategies and procedures in place to cope with unexpected periods of increased pressure.

Alcoholic Drinks: Nitrogen

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risk to public health from the use of liquid nitrogen in drinks; whether the Government plans to introduce regulation governing its use in drinks; and how many people have been admitted to hospital for conditions associated with the ingestion of liquid nitrogen in drinks in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has responsibility for food safety issues.
	All food and drink sold to consumers has to comply with the general requirements of food safety legislation under which it is an offence to sell food which is injurious to health.
	The sale of food or drink which is unsafe is prohibited under food law. The FSA considers there is no need for additional legislation in this area to govern the use of liquid nitrogen in drinks. The FSA is making local enforcement officers aware of. the practice of using liquid nitrogen in the preparation of cocktails. If businesses selling alcohol are convicted of food safety offences, this can lead to their alcohol licence being reviewed by the local licensing authority.
	There are industry safety and handling guidelines around the use and storage of liquid nitrogen. It is the business owner's responsibility to make sure that their staff have been trained and are aware of potential risks of using liquid nitrogen. They also have to have appropriate safety measures in place to protect both their staff and consumers.
	The clinical coding classification for hospital admissions does not allow identification of the number related to the ingestion of this type of drink.

Alcoholic Drinks: Nitrogen

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue a warning against the danger of drinks containing liquid nitrogen; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has responsibility for food safety issues.
	The FSA issued advice on 8 October 2012 to consumers on the dangers of consuming drinks containing liquid nitrogen. Although liquid nitrogen is not a toxic substance, its extreme cold temperature makes it unsafe for people to drink and eat because the human body is unable to cope with such a cold internal temperature.
	The FSA is making local enforcement officers aware of the practice of using liquid nitrogen in the use of cocktails, and is also working with other Government Departments and agencies to investigate the issue further and whether any further action needs to be taken.
	Food manufacturers, retailers and businesses in the United Kingdom have a legal obligation to make sure that any and all food they are serving to the public is fit for human consumption.

Bisphenol A

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what medical devices Bisphenol A has been authorised for use; and whether this list includes medical devices designed for delivering chemotherapy to cancer patients.

Norman Lamb: As the regulatory authority in the United Kingdom, The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is not directly involved in the approval of individual devices. No central lists are kept as to what medical devices have been authorised to be placed on the market. However Bisphenol A is a common constituent of polycarbons and will be in most devices made out of plastics including those designed for delivering chemotherapy.

Bisphenol A

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when he plans to include environmental exposure to chemicals such as Bisphenol A as a preventable risk factor in the UK Strategy for Cancer and NHS Cancer Plan; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what research his Department has funded to investigate the links between exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as Bisphenol A and the risk of developing breast cancer;
	(3)  what steps his Department is taking to reduce the risks of breast cancer caused by modifiable environmental factors; and whether this will include steps to reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as Bisphenol A.

Anna Soubry: There is an active network of officials across the United Kingdom Governments who keep each other appraised of developments in the regulation of Bisphenol-A (BPA) specifically and endocrine disruption more generally. This group is also engaged at European Union level.
	It is well established that BPA can disrupt the endocrine (hormone) system, but only extremely weakly. A well-designed study published in October 2009 found no adverse effects in rats exposed to levels 4,000 times higher than the maximum exposure of human adults in the general population.
	BPA has been found not to produce significant carcinogenic responses in rats and mice. Further reassurance arises from BPA's lack of mutagenicity in relevant animal studies; substances that otherwise produce positive results in such tests are generally viewed as a carcinogenic threat to humans.
	In 2006, the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) assessed the health impact of BPA and established a Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI), which is the amount that can be eaten every day, over a whole lifetime, without causing appreciable harm. The TDI is well above general levels of human consumption. A further Opinion by EFSA on BPA was published on 30 September 2010 and took into account more recent studies on possible BPA enhancement of breast cancer, but concluded that the existing TDI did not require adjustment.
	In the light of the EFSA assessments published so far, the Government does not propose to limit further the use of BPA in food or non-food applications beyond current levels, which have been set following already rigorous risk assessment.
	BPA is registered under the EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) regulation. According to REACH provisions, the German Competent Authority is already evaluating its registration with a view to deciding whether any more information or regulatory action is needed. We should know more about the outcome of this process early next year. While there is currently no reason to believe that robust evidence will arise requiring further controls on BPA, the Government remain alert to any evidence derived from this or other sources, and to expert opinions from authorities such as EFSA.
	On 12 January 2011, we published ‘Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer’, which set out actions to tackle preventable cancer incidence; improve the quality and efficiency of cancer services; improve patients' experience of care; improve quality of life for cancer survivors; and deliver outcomes that are comparable with the best in Europe.
	The World Health Organisation International Agency for Research on Cancer lists over 40 workplace agents or activities as definitely or probably carcinogenic. Our strategy highlighted that protecting people from cancer-related workplace risks has an important part to play in reducing preventable cancer incidence, setting out that research undertaken by Imperial College London for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimated that over 8,000 cancer deaths per year are due to occupational exposures in Great Britain. The HSE is committed to reducing these numbers and has a range of activities in place, including interventions with industry stakeholders, targeted inspection initiatives and awareness raising initiatives.
	The board of the HSE has acknowledged that occupational cancer is a serious issue and the profile needs to be raised. We understand that the HSE is planning to host a conference in 2012-13 to engage other stakeholders with a view to ensuring that all parties understand the role they need to play in this matter and to share knowledge.
	The Department has not funded research specifically on links between exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and the risk of developing breast cancer.

Bisphenol A

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what applications the Government has approved the use of Bisphenol A.

Anna Soubry: We are advised by the Food Standards Agency that Bisphenol A (BPA) is approved according to European Union legislation for use in plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. There is one exception to this. The EU banned the use of BPA in polycarbonate baby bottles for infants up to 12 months of age in 2011. The ban has been implemented into United Kingdom law.

Caesarean Sections

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the tariff for caesarian sections has been in each year since 2008-09.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 National tariffs for Caesarean Sections 2008-09 to 2012-13 
			   Tariff (£)—Daycase, ordinary elective and non-elective spells 
			 Healthcare Resource Group (HRG) Description 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 N10 Caesarean Section with complications or comorbidities 3,077 — — — — 
			 N11 Caesarean Section without complications or comorbidities 2,198 — — — — 
			 NZ03A Caesarean Section 19 years and over — 2,579 2,539 — — 
			 NZ03B Caesarean Section 18 years and under — 2,654 2,864 — — 
			 NZ03C Caesarean Section with complications — 3,626 3,311 3,236 — 
			 NZ03D Caesarean Section between 16 and 40 years — — — 2,378 — 
			 NZ03E Caesarean Section under 16 or over 40 years — — — 2,618 — 
			 NZ13A Planned Lower Uterine Caesarean Section with complications or comorbidities — — — — 2,704 
			 NZ13B Planned Lower Uterine Caesarean Section without complications or comorbidities — — — — 2,160 
			 NZ14A Emergency or Upper Uterine Caesarean Section with complications or comorbidities — — — — 3,321 
			 NZ14B Emergency or Upper Uterine Caesarean Section without complications or comorbidities — — — — 2,778 
			 NZ15Z Caesarean Section with Eclampsia, Preeclampsia or Placenta Praevia — — — — 4,808 
			 Source: Published national Payment by Results tariffs 
		
	
	The tariffs for each year are not directly comparable due to changes in the design of the HRGs which are the currency used for cost collection and tariff payment.
	The actual price paid to the provider will have been the national tariff plus an adjustment known as the Market Forces Factor (MFF), which recognises the unavoidable cost differences of providing healthcare in different parts of the country. Each provider has its own individual MFF.
	The price paid to the provider may also include a 'long stay payment' in circumstances where the length of stay of the spell exceeds a ‘trim point’ specific to the HRG.

Care Homes: Finance

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide financial assistance to small care homes to help them meet the costs of (a) the increase in the rate of the national minimum wage and (b) automatic enrolment pension plans.

Norman Lamb: Care homes, like any other business, must meet their operating costs, including those incurred complying with employment law, out of the fees they charge. Care home fees come from local councils, which commission services for their populations, and self-funding residents, who purchase their own care.
	Local councils are free to decide how best to contract with providers of residential care to meet the needs of their populations. The Government do not set or recommend the fee rates which local councils agree with care providers. However, councils are expected to take the actual cost of providing care into account when negotiating with providers.
	The Government have allocated an additional £7.2 billion over four years for adult social care—in the context of a challenging local government settlement; this provides the resources for local authorities to protect access to care.

Carers: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were registered as carers in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) Nottinghamshire in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not hold this information centrally. However, some local authorities and general practitioners may maintain their own registers of carers.
	We have provided funding of up to £850,000 in 2011-12 to the Royal College of General Practitioners, Carers UK and the Carers Trust to develop a range of initiatives to increase awareness in primary health care of carers of all ages. Further work is underway this year with these organisations and other nursing bodies and medical Royal Colleges with a view to raising awareness in other parts of healthcare.

Chemicals: Health Hazards

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department's Committee of Experts which replaced the Committee on the Carcogenity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products last met; who sits on the committee; what interests they have declared; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) last met on 12 July 2012. The following table contains the declared interests of the current membership. Further information on the COC can be found at:
	www.iacoc.org.uk/membership/index.htm
	It is planned to change the status of the COC from an advisory non-departmental public body to Departmental Expert Committee on 1 December 2012.
	
		
			 Declaration of Interests during the period of this report 2011 
			  Personal Interest Non-personal interest 
			 Member Company Interest Company Interest 
			 Professor D H Phillips (Chairman) Aviva Shareholder   
			  Banco Santander Shareholder   
			  BG Group Shareholder   
			  Bradford & Bingley Shareholder   
			  Centrica Shareholder   
			  National Grid Shareholder   
			  Takeda Consultancy   
			      
			 Dr C Allen None None None None 
			      
			 Prof A Boobis OBE Bank Santander Shareholder Food Standards Agency Research Contracts 
			  Barclays Bank Shareholder Department of Health  
			  BG Group Shareholder Health Protection Agency  
			  BT Group Shareholder Medical Research Council  
			  Centrica Shareholder   
			  Iberdrola SA Shareholder Medical Research Council PhD studentships 
			  National Grid Shareholder GlaxoSmithKline  
			  Lloyds Shareholder   
			  Endura Fine Chemicals Consultancies ILSI, ILSI HESI & ILSI Europe Board of Trustees/ Directors Trustee/Director (non-remunerated) (past Chair of HESI) 
			  Astra Zeneka    
			  GlaxoSmithKline  ILSI HESI Risk 21 project Co-Chair Member 
			  DuaneMorris  ILSI HESI, ILSI Europe & ILSI Research Foundation Working Groups on generic risk assessment issues  
			    JMPR Chair/Member 
			    JECFA (vet drugs)  
			    EFSA CONTAM Panel (Panel on chemical contaminants in the food chain)  
			    EFSA PPR Panel Working Groups on Cumulative Assessment Groups for Pesticides; Risk Assessment of Pesticide Metabolites  
			    EFSA working group on Identification of. Emerging Risks  
			    EFSA Scientific Committee Working Group on Threshold of Toxicogical Concern  
		
	
	
		
			    DG SANCO SCHER Working Group on Mixtures of Chemicals  
			    WHO IPCS Working Groups on Chemical Mixtures and on Mode of Action  
			    FP7 COSMOS Project  
			    Scientific Advisory Board of FP6/7 projects:  
			    PREDICT-IV  
			    ACROPOLIS and HEROIC  
			    Science Advisory Board, Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology, Basel, Switzerland.  
			      
			 Dr P Carthew Unilever Salary Gwathmey, Cambridge USA Consultancy work 
			      
			 Prof P B Farmer Santander Shareholder Van Geest Foundation Research support 
			  Bradford & Bingley Shareholder   
			  Foreign & Colonial Shareholder   
			  Friends Provident Shareholder   
			  Torotrak Shareholder   
			  EFSA Member of Scientific Panel   
			  ILSI HESI Committee Member   
			      
			 Mrs R Glazebrook BT Group Shareholder None None 
			  Lloyds TSB Shareholder   
			  National Grid Shareholder   
			      
			 Dr Peter Greaves Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Allschwil, Switzerland Consultant None None 
			  Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., San Diego, California    
			  Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd    
			  Daiichi Sankyo, Edison, New Jersey    
			  Experimental Pathology Laboratories Inc., Sterling, Virginia    
			  GlaxoSmithKline, Ware    
			  Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc., San Francisco, California    
			  Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC, Raritan, New Jersey    
			  Novo Nordisk,A/S, Malov, Denmark    
			  Shire Pharmaceutical Development Ltd, Basingstoke, UK    
			  Sun Coast Tox Inc., San Diego, California    
			      
			 Dr David Lovell National Grid plc Shareholder AstraZeneca Spouse shareholder 
			  Pfizer Shareholder National Grid plc  
			      
			 Dr B G Miller (Iberdrola SA) Shareholder None None 
			      
			 Dr Christopher Powell GlaxoSmithKline Shareholder and salary None None 
			      
		
	
	
		
			 Dr N Wallis Pfizer Shareholder None None 
			  Merck Serona SA, Geneve Salary   
			      
			 Professor Julian Peto(1) — — — — 
			      
			 Dr Lesley Rushton Friends Provident Shareholder CONCAWE (Conservation of Clean Air and Water Europe) Research support 
			  Northern Rock Shareholder CEFIC (European Chemistry Council) Research support 
			  Epidemiological advice relating to dermatitis study to Unilever Consultancy Other grants from UK government agencies and departments e.g. Food Standards Agency, Health and Safety Executive Research support 
			  Epidemiological advice on study to Transport and General Workers Union Consultancy ECETOC Scientific Committee Member 
			  Epidemiological review of occupational causes of malignant melanoma Expert witness   
			      
			      
			 Dr Heather Wallace Northern Rock : Shareholder None None 
			  Epidemiological advice relating to dermatitis study to Unilever    
			  Epidemiological advice on study to Transport and General Workers Union    
			  Epidemiological review of occupational causes of malignant melanoma    
			 (1 )Awaits confirmation

Catering

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) brand and (b) supplier was in respect of all expenditure by his Department on (i) tea and coffee, (ii) wine, (iii) alcoholic refreshments other than wine and (iv) bottled water in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: It is only possible to respond to the question with reference to the Department's central catering and hospitality contracts. In London buildings, coffee is Fairtrade, provided by United Coffee and Peros. Tea is PG Tips, provided by Unilever, and Twinings Speciality Tea from Twinings. Water is Vivreau and filtered and bottled on site. In Quarry House, Leeds, coffee and tea are Fairtrade and provided by Peros. Water is Vivreau which is filtered and bottled on site.
	Wine and alcoholic refreshments are not provided at any sites.
	It is possible, subject to finance and hospitality rules, to order refreshments or hospitality using a Government Procurement Card. However the records do not show a level of detail sufficient to enable the Department to say what brands of goods were purchased.

Genetically Modified Organisms: Maize

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on human health of the consumption of Monsanto NK603 Roundup-resistant genetically-modified maize.

Anna Soubry: The genetically modified (GM) maize variety NK603 was approved in the European Union for food and feed use in 2004, following a rigorous safety assessment. The original evaluation was reviewed and updated in 2009 and NK603 maize is considered to be as safe as its conventional counterpart with respect to potential direct effects on human and animal health and the environment.
	New information has recently been published concerning an animal feeding trial carried out in France, where the authors highlighted an apparent difference in the incidence of certain tumours between animals fed NK603 maize and non-GM maize. However, no statistical analysis was provided to show that these differences were other than chance observations. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the body responsible for carrying out the safety assessment for GM food and feed, is reviewing this new study. In its initial statement EFSA advised that the published report cannot be used in the safety assessment of GM maize NK603 and it does not see a need to reopen the existing safety evaluation of GM maize NK603. The Food Standards Agency agrees with this conclusion.
	EFSA is contacting the authors of the paper to obtain further information about their work and to review additional results obtained from this study that were not included in their original publication.

Health Services: Homelessness

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve health services for homeless people.

Anna Soubry: We are taking steps to address the poor health outcomes experienced by the homeless and the difficulties that they, and other vulnerable groups, face in accessing some health services. For the first time, we have introduced legal duties on national health service commissioners to reduce inequalities in access to and outcomes from health services.
	In addition, we have developed an Inclusion Health programme, through which we are working with other Government Departments, the NHS and the third sector to tackle the poor health of people in vulnerable groups and to ensure everyone gets the care they need, regardless of their needs or circumstances. As part of this broad programme, we are looking at how to improve access to primary care services and to improve hospital discharge arrangements for the homeless.

Herbal Incense: Health Hazards

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risk to public health from the use of the substance known as herbal incense; and how many people have been admitted to hospital for conditions arising from the use of that substance in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: Synthetic cannabinoids have been marketed as 'herbal incense'. Information on the health harms of synthetic cannabinoids is included in “A summary of the health harms of drugs: A guide to the risks and harms associated with substance misuse” published by the Department in August 2011. A copy of this document has already been placed in the Library.
	Hospital admissions are recorded using the International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes, the international standard diagnostic classification for diseases and other health problems. Information about hospital admissions due to synthetic cannabinoids is not collected centrally because the ICD code for cannabinoids does not distinguish between synthetic and plant-derived cannabinoids.

Homeopathy

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent from the public purse on homeopathy in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: Data on how much the national health service spends on the provision of homeopathy are not separately identifiable from data collected centrally.

Hospitals: Sexual Offences

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints of sexual abuse have been recorded by NHS hospitals in each of the last 20 years.

Daniel Poulter: This information, in relation to written complaints to the national health service, is not collected centrally. Individual hospitals would be expected to record the subject matter of each complaint made under The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 but the Department has no access to this information centrally.

Infectious Diseases

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each age group have been admitted to hospitals in each region for treatment for each type of tropical disease in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Anna Soubry: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The Health Protection Agency (HPA) collects data on reported cases of tropical infectious diseases of public health significance such as cholera, leprosy, malaria, yellow fever, chikungunya, dengue fever, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, schistosomiasis and trypanosomiasis. Their epidemiological data on travel-related tropical infections is published on the HPA's website at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/TravelHealth/EpidemiologicalData/

Food Storage

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Government's policy is on the re-use of jam jars by individuals; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: We are advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that there is European Union legislation in place, that applies to food businesses, that are designed to protect consumers from the migration of materials that may be used in the manufacture of containers used to store food. These rules do not apply to subsequent re-use by individuals.
	The FSA is not aware of any evidence that reusing jam jars presents a food safety concern for consumers in terms of materials which may migrate from jam jars into food. Separately, good hygiene needs to be observed in cleaning jars and food preparation.
	It is for local authorities to decide how they enforce the rules with respect to charities and the like. The FSA's view is that the legislation needs to be applied with common sense and it is clear that local authorities are doing so. The FSA is not aware of any prosecutions for reusing glass jars for jam making since the legislation was introduced in 2004.

Kettering Hospital

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that the accident and emergency department at Kettering General Hospital will not be downgraded or closed as part of the Healthier Together South East Midlands Acute Services Review; and if he will ensure that patients and clinical staff at Kettering General Hospital will be fully involved in that review.

Anna Soubry: This is a matter for the local national health service. The Government have pledged that, in future, all service changes must be led by clinicians and patients, not driven from the top down.
	Any proposed significant changes to services are subject to the strengthened four reconfiguration tests, which are:
	support from general practitioner commissioners;
	arrangements for public and patient engagement, including local authorities, being further strengthened;
	greater clarity about the clinical evidence bases underpinning proposals; and
	proposals taking into account the need to develop and support patient choice.

Learning Disability: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the standard of care provided to people with learning disabilities by Mental Health and Learning Disability NHS trusts in Ashfield constituency.

Norman Lamb: Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust provides services for people with learning disabilities in Ashfield constituency.
	As the independent regulator of providers of health and adult social care providers in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for inspecting and assessing providers against a set of registration requirements that set the essential levels of safety and quality. The CQC's current assessment of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust is that it is compliant with the registration requirements.

London Ambulance Service

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) ambulances and (b) motor cycles were available for use by the London Ambulance Service to respond to 999 calls on 30 September (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: This information is not centrally held. The hon. Member may wish to contact the London Ambulance Service.

NHS Blood and Transplant: Floods

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effects of flood damage on blood stocks at the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Filton;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of recent flood damage to the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Filton and its effect on (a) patients and (b) staff.

Anna Soubry: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) activated its contingency plans on 24 September 2012 due to flooding at its site in Filton, near Bristol, following heavy rain affecting much of the country. Prompt activation of its plans allowed NHSBT to redirect blood stocks from Filton to other NHSBT sites at Manchester and Colindale, for testing and processing, and specialised services were also transferred to other sites where possible. Only a very small number of unvalidated units of fresh frozen plasma had to be destroyed.
	In addition, NHSBT carried out short term media activity and local donor communications to help boost platelet, O negative and B negative blood collections which were impacted as the bad weather spread across the country. This meant that for the areas served by Filton, but also for the rest of England and North Wales, NHSBT was able to meet all hospital requirements for blood and patient care was not affected.
	As a result of the commitment of NHSBT staff, both in Filton and across the organisation (which included staff temporarily relocating to other parts of the country to process the blood donations), operations recommenced in several departments at Filton within just few days of the flooding and the site was fully operational again by 4 October.

NHS Blood and Transplant: Floods

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the risks of moving the work of blood testing sites to an area at risk of flooding;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take to avoid any further flood damage to the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Filton;
	(3)  what steps his Department took to prevent flood damage to the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Filton prior to the recent flooding; and whether these steps included planning for a once in 200 years scenario.

Anna Soubry: Over the last five years, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has been delivering an ambitious, but carefully managed, change programme which has included the removal of significant excess capacity within the blood supply chain. NHSBT has consolidated its processing and testing sites, with most of the sites in the south being consolidated to Filton. As part of this, NHSBT very thoroughly considered business continuity impacts and there are robust protocols for transferring testing to another centre during an emergency, as demonstrated by the recent flood at Filton.
	When designing the Filton site, a flood analysis was carried out which calculated the maximum water level that would occur once in every 200 years. This was double the requirements of the original developer's planning application. An additional 20% was also added to the calculated water levels take into account the potential impact of climate change. As a result, the finished floor level was 50.5 million above ordnance datum (sea level).
	NHSBT regularly assesses risks that may affect its operation on any site, including flooding and other natural events. When the risk is considered significant, resilience measures are put in place to mitigate risk and response measures put in place that enable NHSBT to continue to provide service to hospitals while managing the event.
	During the flood, NHSBT continued to provide an uninterrupted service in which all hospital demands were met and the Filton site was fully operational within a fortnight of the flood. This clearly demonstrates that the contingency plans NHSBT has in place are robust and enable the organisation to maintain delivery of a vital national service in the most challenging circumstances.
	NHSBT has established that the flooding was caused by recent work in the surrounding area outside of the Filton site. NHSBT is following this up with those involved: temporary measures are currently being put in place to mitigate the risk of a further flood, with a long term solution being designed.
	NHSBT is. currently undertaking a ‘lessons learned’ review of the recent situation in order to identify any further actions that need to be taken to further reduce the risk of flooding and provide assurance on site protection.
	In the very unlikely event of the complete, long term loss of a department or centre, a raft of other emergency plans would be activated including 24/7 operations. In addition there is a memorandum of understanding between the four UK blood services providing support in times of crisis.

NHS: Finance

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on (a) redundancy payments, (b) pay in lieu of notice and (c) additional payments to pension schemes for staff from primary care trusts to date.

Daniel Poulter: Information on redundancy payments is not available in the format requested. The following table contains the cost of "compulsory redundancies" and "other departures" for primary care trusts (PCTs) during 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	
		
			 £000 
			 Category 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Compulsory redundancies 4,457 60,039 
			 Other departures 1,737 108,665 
			 Notes: 1. "Other departures" include early retirements (except those due to ill health), voluntary redundancies, Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme, pay in lieu of notice etc. 2. Voluntary redundancies are not separately identifiable from other departures; therefore, an overall figure for redundancies is not available. 
		
	
	Information on “exit packages”, (i.e. compulsory redundancies and other departures) was first collected centrally for the 2009-10 financial year; therefore, figures on an equivalent basis for earlier years are not available.
	The data are taken from the audited summarisation schedules of PCTs, from which the NHS (England) Summarised Accounts are prepared.
	The cost of ‘pay in lieu of notice' is not separately identifiable from the accounting information collected centrally.
	Additional contributions to pension schemes made by PCTs includes costs associated with providing ‘premature retirement/ benefits under the NHS Pension Scheme. Premature retirement is currently available to staff who choose to retire early because of redundancy, and are over their minimum pension age. It allows them to draw their pension immediately, without actuarial reduction.
	Data relating to PCT employer contributions for the purposes of Premature Retirement are available from 2009-10 and is contained in following table. These data relate to the total contributions PCTs made as capitalised lump sum payments to cover these costs. Up until; recently, PCTs could opt to pay the associated costs over the life of the premature pension, however this information can only be obtained within the required timeframe at disproportionate cost for this timeframe.
	
		
			  Payments made by PCT for the purposes of premature retirement (£) 
			 2009-10 18,372,894 
			 2010-11 38,837,477 
			 2011-12 40,469,069 
			 Source: NHS Pensions 
		
	
	Data prior to 2008-09 are not available. Data collected by NHS Pensions have not been separately analysed and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

NHS: G4S

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contracts the NHS holds with G4S.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not centrally collect information on the contracts which individual national health service bodies hold with private sector companies. NHS trusts and foundation trusts are now expected to publish all tender and contract information for contracts over £10,000, a requirement which applies to all central. Government Departments.

Nurses

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses were employed by the NHS (a) in 2010 and (b) on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The annual workforce census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows that at 30 September 2010 there were 280,996 full-time equivalent qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed by the national health service in England.
	The latest monthly workforce statistics, also published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, show that in June 2012 there were 277,085 qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed by the NHS in England.
	The figures above do not include general practitioner practice nurses as primary care staff numbers are not collected for the monthly workforce statistics.

Obesity

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people (a) under 16, (b) aged between 18 and 24, (c) aged between 25 and 64 and (d) aged 65 years and over in (i) Ashfield, (ii) Nottinghamshire, (iii) the East Midlands and (iv) England were treated for obesity-related illnesses in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The information requested is not collected in the format requested. The Health and Social Care Information Centre has provided a count of finished admission episodes(1) with a primary diagnosis of obesity(2) for England, East Midlands Strategic Health Authority(3) (SHA) and Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT), for the years 2006-07 to 2010-11
	(4)
	. This information is provided in the following table. Information is not collected for Ashfield.
	(1) Finished admission episodes. A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	(2) Primary diagnosis. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. The ICD10 code for obesity is E66.
	(3) SHA/PCT of residence. The strategic health authority (SHA) or primary care trust (PCT) containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another SHA/PCT for treatment.
	(4) Assessing growth through time (In-patients). HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in national health service practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.
	
		
			   Age 
			  Place of residence Under 16 16 to 17 18 to 24 25 to-64 65+ Unknown 
			 2006-07 England 656 80 104 2,861 161 — 
			  East Midlands SHA 21 1 5 405 13 — 
			  Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT — — * 69 * — 
			         
			 2007-08 England 747 81 147 3,829 210 4 
			  East Midlands SHA 31 8 17 626 26 — 
			  Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT — — — 119 * — 
			         
			 2008-09 England 774 101 221 6,603 283 3 
			  East Midlands SHA 22 4 50 1,803 37 — 
			  Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT * — — 393 10 — 
			         
			 2009-10 England 632 109 252 9,108 465 2 
			  East Midlands SHA 22 2 25 1,950 58 — 
			  Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT * — — 469 15 — 
			         
			 2010-11 England 525 89 286 10,094 571 8 
			  East Midlands SHA 14 2 22 1,523 62 — 
			  Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT * — * 347 25 — 
			 Note: Small numbers. To protect patient confidentiality, where presented below SHA level, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify figures from the total, additional figures (with the smallest data loss) have also been replaced with an “*” . Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Press Subscriptions

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what subscriptions to (a) newspapers and (b) health journals are held by Ministerial offices in his Department.

Daniel Poulter: The following subscriptions are held across ministerial private offices:
	Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, Sun, Times, Economist, Health Service Journal, New Statesman, Nursing Standard, Nursing Times, Spectator, GP Magazine, Pulse, British Medical Journal, British Medical Association News.

Prostate Cancer

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on the establishment of a national quality standard for men with prostate cancer.

Anna Soubry: We have asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop a quality standard on prostate cancer, as part of a library of approximately 180 NHS Quality Standards. NICE is preparing this quality standard alongside an update of its existing clinical guideline on prostate cancer. NICE currently expects to complete the update of its prostate cancer guideline in late 2013 with the quality standard being published shortly after.

Schizophrenia

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made on the role of treatment in enabling people with schizophrenia to remain in employment.

Norman Lamb: No recent assessment has been made on the role of treatment in enabling people with schizophrenia to remain in employment.
	The NHS Outcomes Framework 2012-13, which sets out the outcomes and corresponding indicators that will be used to hold the NHS Commissioning Board to account for the outcomes it delivers through commissioning health services from 2012-13, includes an improvement area which relates specifically to the employment of people with mental illness. The Mental Health Strategy and its companion Implementation Framework both recognise the vital role employment plays in recovery and set out specific actions which employers and public health services can take to contribute to improving mental health outcomes.
	The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Severe and Enduring Mental Illness pathfinders are secondary care services where employment and vocation is central to the recovery approach to psychosis/schizophrenia. Recovery and access to employment are also key elements of Early Intervention for Psychosis (EIP) Services. The psychosis demonstration sites are focused around EIP so will be routinely evaluating employment rates. The pathfinders are using the Work and Social Adjustment Scale as the outcome measure to record the level of self-reported disability by patients. This scale measures patients’ ability to undertake work, education and training as well as measure other social inclusive activity. The pathfinders are also looking at quality of life type measures where work is looked at. People can also identify their own outcome goal in the choice questionnaire which will highlight if they see work as important.

Smoking

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged (a) under 16, (b) between 18 and 24, (c) between 25 and 64 and (d) 65 and over in (i) Ashfield, (ii) Nottinghamshire, (iii) the East Midlands and (iv) England were treated for smoking-related illnesses in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Information is not available in the format requested.
	The NHS Information Centre collects data on hospital admissions. Information on smoking attributable admissions is only available for those aged 35 and over, as relative risks are only available for this age group.
	Information on smoking-related illnesses among adults aged 35 and over, the estimated number of admissions that can be attributed to smoking and the percentage of admissions that can be attributed to smoking in England from 2006-07 to 2010-11 may be found through the following links and a copy has been placed in the Library.
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/smoking/statistics-on-smoking--england-2012
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/smoking11
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/smoking10
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/smoking/statistics-on-smoking-england-2009
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/smoking08

Speech Therapy: Tees Valley

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the resources available to speech and language therapists in the South Teesside area.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has made no assessment of the resources available to speech and language therapists in the South Teesside area. The provision of services, including speech and language therapy services, is a matter for the local national health service.

Official Travel Costs

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many journeys in an official capacity (a) he and (b) officials of his Department made by (i) train, (ii) coach and (iii) Government car in each of the last 12 months.

Daniel Poulter: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust: Maternity Services

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust on the future configuration of maternity services at its hospitals.

Daniel Poulter: There have been no recent discussions between the Secretary of State or other Ministers with the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust about the future configuration of maternity services at its hospitals. The provision of services, including maternity services, is a matter for the local national health service.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Bangladesh Remittance and Payments Partnership; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Remittance and Payments Partnership programme, which ended in 2011, had the objective of improving access to and reducing the cost of remittances for the poor in Bangladesh. Key programme outcomes include:
	Savings of $66 million by migrants in Saudi Arabia, UK and Singapore by bringing down the cost of formal remittance transfers.
	Establishment of the Bangladesh Automated Cheque Handling System that has resulted in a reduction in the time required to deliver a remittance. 95% of individuals surveyed received their remittances in less than 15 days, of which 65% received them in less than seven days compared with 20-25 days.
	Increased usage of formal remittance channels, reported to be at 90%.
	Emerging Markets Group implemented this programme in partnership with Bangladesh Bank, the International Organisation for Migration, and the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Preparation of Electoral Roll with Photographs Programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The outcome of this project was the preparation by the Bangladesh Election Commission of a credible voter list, with photographs, for use in the parliamentary elections in 2008. The list included more than 81 million voters, and increased public and political parties' confidence in the parliamentary elections in 2008, which had a voter turnout of 86%.
	This project was funded by the Government of Bangladesh and a consortium of donors. UK Aid provided approximately 22% of the total finance, which was channelled through the United Nations Development Programme.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Public Service Capacity Building programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By January 2013, the intended outcome of the Public Service Capacity Building project (PSCB) is to have contributed to strengthening the leadership competencies and capacity of 1,700 senior level, reform-minded, civil servants. This will translate into more effective leadership for the development and delivery of Government policy.
	Some specific outcomes expected of the project include:
	the development of human resource policies, systems and procedures to enable effective deployment of staff in the civil service;
	the training of 1,700 senior managers and other senior public sector managers.
	PSCB is implemented by the company Capita Helm, in consortium with the British Council, in support of Bangladesh's Ministry of Public Administration.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from the Strengthening Political Participation in Bangladesh programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By 2015, the Strengthening Political Participation programme is expected to have contributed to:
	Political parties and candidates becoming more responsive to citizens and their needs;
	More examples of policy debate around issues, both locally and nationally, as an alternative to confrontational politics;
	More channels through which parties, MPs and political institutions can be held accountable; and
	Improved public confidence in the Election Commission and the electoral process.
	The programme is implemented in partnership with USAID. Activities are implemented by Democracy International, the National Democratic Institute, The Asia Foundation, Transparency International Bangladesh, the United Nations Development Programme and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from the Underprivileged Children's Education and Skills programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By the end of December 2015, expected achievements of the Underprivileged Children's Education and Skills programme are:
	34,500 children (50% girls) will graduate from grade VIII;
	23,000 children (45% girls) will receive technical training; and
	90% of these graduates will be employed.
	This programme is implemented through a partnership with a Bangladesh non-governmental organisation, UCEP (Underprivileged Children's Education Programme).

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the amount of funding from her Department that has been implemented through the Manusher Jonno Foundation in Bangladesh since 2010.

Alan Duncan: Since 2010, £21,771,118 of UK aid has been implemented through the Manusher Jonno Foundation, under the Rights and Governance Challenge Fund.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Department's funding through the Manusher Jonno Foundation in Bangladesh. [Official Report, 16 January 2013, Vol. 556, c. 5MC.]

Alan Duncan: By 2013, the Rights and Governance Challenge Fund, implemented by the Manusher Jonno Foundation, is expected to have enabled 253,000 poor and vulnerable people to benefit from social safety net programmes, 11,700 children to be withdrawn from hazardous work, and 121,000 workers in garments and shrimp industries to be paid on time and have improved working conditions. In 2011 alone, the programme supported 5,755 women to receive Government land that is meant to be allocated to poor people, and 7,000 boys and girls to obtain stipends from the Government to attend school.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department's Manusher Jonno project in Bangladesh is being implemented.

Alan Duncan: The Rights and Governance Challenge Fund is managed by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF). The fund is allocated through a competitive process and currently supports around 110 small and medium-sized Bangladeshi non-governmental organisations and, through them, 300 community-based organisations across Bangladesh to assist the most marginalised communities to become more empowered and improve the quality of their lives.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether it remains her policy that her Department's Operational Plan in Bangladesh 2011-2015 should reduce its targets on (a) governance and security, (b) education and (c) poverty, hunger and vulnerability.

Alan Duncan: DFID policy is that the headline targets in the Bangladesh Operational Plan are adjusted downwards in (a) governance and security, (b) education and (c) poverty, hunger and vulnerability. These revisions were made following a methodological review under which a common approach to attributing results has been adopted based on DFID's financial contribution to each programme. This allows DFID to aggregate results across its country programmes. In some areas, such as governance and security, new data have also emerged since the original Operational Plan was published which change the baseline on which the result targets were based. This does not, however, reflect a change in policy around DFID's overall work in these sectors in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how she proposes that the wealth-creation pillar in her Department's Operational Plan in Bangladesh 2011-2015 of increasing income for selected groups will be implemented.

Alan Duncan: DFID is working with a range of partners on projects to deliver results linked to the wealth-creation pillar in the DFID Bangladesh Operational Plan.
	This includes tackling the macro issues of an improved investment climate to make Bangladesh a more attractive place to do business, as well as activity on the ground to increase opportunity for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to thrive, in turn creating jobs and income. DFID is also currently developing new programmes to address the shortage of skilled labour, and to increase access to finance for those currently not able to secure it for livelihood and enterprise opportunities.
	Outcomes include:
	supporting 2.3 million farmers and small businesses to improve productivity by adapting new cultivation techniques and business processes;
	facilitating access to finance for 445,000 additional households, farmers and small businesses;
	reducing regulatory burden on businesses, in selected areas, by 25% by 2015.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Accelerating Improved Nutrition for Extreme Poor in Bangladesh project; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Accelerating Improved Nutrition for Extreme Poor project (2012-15) focuses on the nutrition needs of 600,000 people including children, adolescent girls and pregnant and breast-feeding women. In particular, it expects to improve the quality, quantity and variety of food intake, leading to better health outcomes for the extreme poor.
	The project is implemented through DFID's three ongoing poverty programmes:
	Chars Livelihoods Programme;
	Economic Empowerment of the Poorest Programme; and
	Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Programme.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Technical Assistance to Support Improved Aid Effectiveness in Bangladesh programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The objective of this programme is for Bangladesh to achieve better development results through improved management and increased accountability for the allocation and delivery of foreign assistance by the Government of Bangladesh. The expected outcomes are:
	harmonising donor/Government practices to reduce fragmentation, inefficiencies and transaction costs;
	more efficient use of resources for implementing national priorities, with increased impact by streamlining and speeding up project planning and approval;
	donor alignment behind country strategies and plans, and use of country procurement and public financial management systems (where risks are covered), building the country's capacity to lead and manage their own development;
	well-functioning systems for results and performance accountability.
	The project is run by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Government of Bangladesh and is funded by UNDP, UK, Australia and Denmark, with some staff resources and offices provided by the Government of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Crown Agents Procurement Core Country Agreement; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: Through the Core Country Agreement, Crown Agents, on behalf of DFID, carries out procurement of a diverse range of goods and equipment for our development programme in Bangladesh, using rigorous competitive processes which follow best international practice and deliver excellent value for money. Crown Agents was awarded the contract following an international competition using the EU procurement directives process. The current contract is due to end in March 2013.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Transparency International Bangladesh project; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: Between 2003 and 2008, the project supported Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) to generate evidence to inform a public debate on corruption in Bangladesh, and increase transparency and accountability in the public, non-profit and private sectors.
	TIB is a strong civil society organisation that consistently challenges the Government on issues of corruption and lack of accountability. TIB is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) registered in Bangladesh and is the Bangladesh chapter of NGO Transparency International.
	TIB has campaigned for the promotion and development of institutions, laws and practices to combat corruption. A public information campaign made headline news of corruption issues and made more people aware of their rights and responsibilities and how to raise their voice against poor services and lack of accountability. At the local level, TIB supported committees of concerned citizens in 34 of the 64 districts in Bangladesh. The committees stopped payment of unauthorised fees; increased the distribution of school books; improved attendance of teachers in schools; and improved the distribution of safety net payments.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from the Bangladesh Policy Fund; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Bangladesh Policy Fund helps to strengthen the evidence base for policy issues in Bangladesh which DFID can influence as well as piloting ways to turn these policies into outcomes for poor people. An example of results generated by the Bangladesh Policy Fund can be seen through its support of the Food Security Policy Forum. This forum led to a change to Government of Bangladesh (GoB) policy, in that nutrition was prioritised within the GoB's focus on food security.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Humanitarian Assistance for Bangladesh programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The UK's Humanitarian Assistance for Bangladesh programme (2008-11) provided emergency relief to families affected by Cyclone Aila. More than 50,200 households received shelter support, 14,000 families had more access to food, and 4,000 families could access safer drinking water: The programme was implemented by the International Organisation for Migration, the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF and the World Food Programme. Access to the most remote areas was facilitated with core support to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Bangladesh Sanglap II project; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: Bangladesh Sanglap II project provided opportunities for Bangladeshi people to interact with and ask questions to policy and decision-makers on key governance issues, through TV and radio programmes that reached 25.06 million viewers and listeners, well exceeding its target of 3 million. The project provided one of the first opportunities for Bangladeshi citizens to ask questions of elected officials on television or radio.
	The project was implemented by the BBC World Service Trust between September 2006 and October 2010.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Department's Joint Technical Assistance Programme with the World Bank; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Joint Technical Assistance Programme is designed to generate detailed analytical work and policy dialogue on key economic and governance issues, to strengthen the evidence base upon which to base policy making in Bangladesh.
	The project is implemented by the World Bank, which commissions research by local and international experts on issues as agreed between the World Bank and DFID, in consultation with local Bangladeshi partners.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the outcomes of the Joint UN Accelerating Progress towards Maternal and Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity Reduction Project; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: During the project period (July 2007 to June 2012) the quality of maternal and new-born services has been improved in four remote districts of Bangladesh. The use of antenatal care increased from 33.6% to 70%, while the percentage of skilled attendance at birth increased from 20% to 50%.
	The project was support by DFID and the European Commission, and was implemented by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organisation.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Department's Maternal, Neonatal and Child Survival Project with the Science and Research Advisory Committee; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: During its project period (January 2009 to June 2012) the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Survival Project assisted 145,000 poor rural women with skilled attendants during delivery. Additionally, 390,000 new-borns were breastfed within one hour of birth.
	The project was implemented by BRAC (previously known as Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) and the United Nations Children's Fund with support from the Department for International Development, Australian Aid and the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Tax Administration—Compliance and Taxpayer Services Programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh

Alan Duncan: By June 2015, the Tax Administration Capacity and Taxpayers Services (TACTS) project is expected to have improved the quality of tax administration and contributed to the addition of 1 million new registered taxpayers, and 25% per annum growth in revenue collection.
	TACTS is implemented by the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers India, working closely with Bangladesh's National Board of Revenue.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of (a) the outcomes of the United Nations Development Programme Early Recovery Action Plan and (b) how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Early Recovery Action Plan was supported by the UK from 2008-09, helping communities to recover after Cyclone Sidr. UK support helped rebuild more than 13,000 houses for some of the hardest hit families. The programme was implemented by UNDP in close coordination with the Bangladesh Ministry of Food and Disaster Management.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Shelter, Sanitation and Resilience, Bangladesh programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By early 2013, the Shelter, Sanitation Recovery and Resilience programme will have helped more than 11,000 families in the Satkhira district of Bangladesh to replace homes and sanitation facilities destroyed by persistent waterlogging. The new shelters and latrines are built to withstand future flooding so people can protect themselves, their animals and their belongings from dangerous flood waters.
	This support is delivered by the NARRI consortium of non-governmental organisations (the National Alliance for Response and Risk Reduction Initiative: Oxfam (lead agency), Action Aid, CARE, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, and Solidarités).

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Katalyst Phase II project; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By the end of 2013, Katalyst Phase II is expected to have contributed to accumulated net income increase of US$280 million for 2.3 million farmers and small businesses.
	Katalyst is implemented by a Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation called 'Swisscontact' in partnership with the Swiss and Canadian Government Development Agencies (SDC and CIDA) and the Netherlands Government.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Urban Primary Health Care Project 2; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Urban Primary Health Care Project provided more than 8 million Bangladeshis with out-patient services, 3.6 million with family planning services, and more than 7 million children with immunisations.
	The project was implemented by the Bangladesh local government and non-governmental organisations. The project was supported by:
	DFID;
	Asian Development Bank;
	Swedish International Development Agency;
	United Nations Fund for Population Activities; and
	Orbis International.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Education for Children with Disabilities programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The project on Promoting Rights and Access to Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh was implemented by Leonard Cheshire Disability (United Kingdom) and the Centre for Disability in Development (Bangladesh). The project started in July 2008 and was completed in December 2011.
	The project was evaluated in 2012 and was assessed as having achieved most of its objectives, albeit the evaluation noted that the Government of Bangladesh would need further encouragement to help more disabled children attend mainstream schools. Project successes included:
	providing mobility devices for children;
	training for 37 instructors from the Primary Teachers Training Institute;
	2,430 disabled children enrolled in mainstream schools;
	2,364 disabled children retained in mainstream schools which represents 80% of children with disabilities in the project catchment area of which 99% were continuing with their education at the end of the project term;
	support to the Government of Bangladesh to implement their policy on helping disabled children attend mainstream schools as part of the National Education Programme.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Access to Information for Greater Participation and Government Accessibility project; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Access to Information for Greater Participation and Government Accessibility project was funded through the Civil Society Challenge Fund. It was managed by Article 19, an organisation that defends the right to freedom of expression, and implemented by Mass Line Media Centre, Shuprashashoner Jonno Pracharavijan, and the Bangladesh News Network for Radio Communication. The project aimed to increase accountability between the Government and poor people for more inclusive policy-making where the policy is relevant to the poor. It was implemented from March 2007 to August 2010 nationally and with a particular focus on 12 districts.
	An independent evaluation found that the project had made a “far-reaching” contribution to the enactment and implementation of the Right to Information Act 2009 in Bangladesh. The project provided the Government with technical assistance while the Act was being drafted. The project trained 200 Government officials in their duties under the Act. It assisted 52,000 people to understand their rights and entitlements. This meant, for example, communities were able to ask for and receive information on the selection criteria for cyclone relief and rehabilitation assistance.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her project to provide support to the International Centre for Diarrhoea Disease Research, Bangladesh for swine flu; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: DFID supported the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh to set up a surveillance system and treatment unit in 2009 for patients with influenza symptoms and illness. This was in response to concern raised by the World Health Organisation about a potential pandemic.
	A dedicated treatment unit was rapidly established and medical and paramedical professionals were provided with training and information. A total of 2,208 patients were screened, out of which 14 were found positive with swine flu. Regular updates were provided to the Government of Bangladesh during the crisis period, and the surveillance system continues to assist Bangladesh to respond rapidly to future outbreaks.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of her Safe Motherhood in Rural Communities project; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The project on Safe Motherhood in Rural Communities in 23 districts in north-west Bangladesh was implemented by Lamb Health Care Foundation (United Kingdom) and Lamb Project (Bangladesh). The project started on 1 April 2006 and finished on 30 June 2009.
	The project implemented a health-care and development system benefitting approximately 600,000 people in 23 districts including:
	450 home/community Village Health Volunteers trained;
	support to 21 local clinics, including 16 Safe Child Delivery Units, with 180 Community Health Workers in all 23 districts;
	family planning counselling to hospitals;
	a subsidy for 1,400 poor patients to be treated at the hospital without fees over three years;
	better community-based care for disabled children reaching 369 children (201 boys, 168 girls) during the project period;
	a reduction in maternal mortality in the project areas of 40% and a reduction in peri-natal mortality by 11%;
	Lamb Health Care Foundation (United Kingdom) made contributions to a Word Health Organisation (WHO) manual on Perinatal and Maternal Death Audit.
	The project evaluation undertaken in December 2009 concluded that the project had fully achieved its objectives and that the work undertaken should be sustained after the project end-date. The project partner is continuing to work with the Government of Bangladesh to ensure this.

Bangladesh

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of the Community Based Microfinance Initiative; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The project “Promoting economic development of the poor through community based microfinance initiatives in Bangladesh” was funded through the Civil Society Challenge Fund. The project was implemented by the Credit and Development Forum (CDF) across nine districts and aimed to improve access to commercial banking services for community based organisations (CBOs) and very poor people. The project started in April 2006 and was completed in March 2010.
	The project worked with 25 community organisations to provide microfinance services for their members. These organisations provided small-scale finance to establish income-generating activities for 32,000 poor households. The increased income that was generated has allowed those households to invest in improved family health care, education and housing.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department has taken to implement the conclusions of the Strategic Programme Review in Bangladesh; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The Strategic Programme Review is a continuing process to ensure that DFID staff, partners, and programmes are fully prepared to meet the challenge of climate change. In Bangladesh, the DFID office has reduced carbon emissions by 16% since 2009-10 (well on track towards a target of 25% by 2014-15). Staff have developed the knowledge and skills to ensure all programmes are effectively designed and implemented to minimise climate impacts and help build resilience in Bangladesh.
	Programmes are being designed to be more resilient to climate change impacts—for example, primary schools in vulnerable areas of Bangladesh are being built to double as cyclone shelters.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessments are made when setting the salaries of Bangladeshi nationals employed by her Department in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) Delegation states that DFlD's Staff Appointed In Country (SAIC) must be paid according to the local market. Overseas offices, therefore, undertake fundamental pay reviews to ensure that they are paying comparable wages to staff working for other local employers doing similar work. The last fundamental pay review for DFID Bangladesh, conducted jointly with the Foreign Office, was in 2010. The subsequent pay review is due to be completed by December 2012.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent estimate she has made of the planned operational costs for her Department in Bangladesh; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The operational plan (2011-15) sets out an allocation of £1 billion over the period. Current forecasts show expenditure is anticipated to be £988 million.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will publish the full list of contractors and subcontractors used in the delivery of each operational project being undertaken in Bangladesh; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The following is a list of current DFID Bangladesh projects delivered by private sector contractors. The DFID Bangladesh programme is delivered in its entirety through a range of partners including non-governmental organisations, multilateral institutions, as well as contractors. The list of subcontractors for each project is not available on the DFID system and would need to be sought separately from each programme.
	
		
			 Project Contractor Project description 
			 English In Action (EIA) BMB Mott MacDonald To improve English language skills for 25 million people through news, TV, radio, and mobile device materials, improved teacher training, and adult-learning 
			 Public Service Capacity (MATT 2) Capita Helm A critical mass of competent and reform-minded civil servants enabled to develop and deliver government policy 
			 TACTS (Tax Administration Capacity and Taxpayer Services) PricewaterhouseCoopers India To improve the Government's weak domestic revenue position, widen the tax base and promote transparency and trust in the revenue administration system 
			 Safety and Justice Maxwell Stamp Increase access to high quality informal justice mechanisms and develop a more responsive formal justice system for the poor and vulnerable, particularly women, children, ethnic and religious minorities and marginalised communities 
			 Regulatory and investment systems for enterprise growth in Bangladesh (RISE) PricewaterhouseCoopers An Improved investment climate making Bangladesh a better place for business 
			 Promoting financial services for poverty reduction in Bangladesh (Prosper) Maxwell Stamp, CRIF Sustainable Micro-Finance sector in Bangladesh offers greater access to, and usage of, diversified financial . services for the poor, micro, small enterprises and farmers 
			 Katalyst Phase II Swisscontact, Development Alternative Inc. To increase the competitiveness of micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMSE) in key urban and rural sectors 
			 Business Innovation Fund PricewaterhouseCoopers To establish a facility which provides advice and support for businesses that want to engage poor people as part of the value chain or as end users of goods and services 
			 Economic Empowerment of the Poorest Harewelle International The purpose is to improve the livelihoods of 750,000 very poor people, particularly women and children, by increasing their economic well-being 
			 Chars Livelihoods Programme (CLP2) Maxwell Stamp To improve the food security, livelihoods and incomes of extremely poor people living on the Riverine Char Islands of North-Western Bangladesh 
			 Climate Change Programme (Jalabayoo-O-Jibon) HTSPE, International Institute for Environment and Development Climate change adaptation and risk reduction measures protect and improve the lives and livelihoods of 15 million poor and vulnerable people by 2013

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of the Health, Nutrition and Population Sector programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Health, Nutrition and Population Sector programme (July 2004 to June 2011) reduced maternal deaths from 322 to 194 per 100,000 live births. Skilled birth attendance among the poorest increased from 3.4% to 9.2%. Deaths among children under the age of five reduced from 88 to 52 per 1,000 live births. Tuberculosis cure rate increased from 83.7% to 91%.
	The project was implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with support from 20 development partners including the Department for International Development and the World Bank.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from the Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction programme (2007 to 2014) will contribute to the development of a National Urban Poverty Reduction Strategy and encourage the local governments to take more responsibility for the urban poor. The outcomes of the programme include improved living conditions and livelihoods for 3 million slum dwellers in Bangladesh, including improved nutrition and access to safe drinking water and sanitation. It also provides skill-based training to youth, linking them to employment opportunities.
	The programme is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme through the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes are expected from the Regulatory and Investment Systems for Enterprise programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By 2015, the Regulatory and Investment System for Enterprise programme will contribute to £115 million of savings to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Bangladesh that employ 80% of the labour force. The programme also aims to generate more than £900 million of foreign direct investment resulting in the creation of high-quality, formal jobs for the poor.
	The programme is implemented in partnership with the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what outcomes were achieved by the Chars Livelihoods Programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh;
	(2)  what outcomes she expects from the Chars Livelihoods Programme 2; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Chars Livelihoods Programme—phase 1 (2006-10) helped improve the livelihoods, incomes and food security of 1 million extremely poor and vulnerable people living on the flood-prone remote Char islands of north-western Bangladesh. About 100,000 families were protected from flooding through raised plinths, and about 50,000 poor families are better able to feed their families.
	The Chars Livelihoods Programme—phase 2 (2010-16) will help improve the livelihoods, incomes and food security of up to 1 million extremely poor and vulnerable people living on the flood-prone remote Char islands of north-western Bangladesh. Until now, more than 100,000 people already benefitted from raised plinths, sanitary toilets and the transfer of free assets, such as cattle.
	Maxwell Stamp plc managed both programmes and is hosted by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. The programmes are implemented on the ground by local non-governmental organisations and elected local government bodies (Union Parishad).

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes are expected from the Skills for Employment programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Skills for Employment programme of Bangladesh, which is planned to begin in 2013, aims to support 136,000 poor people to enhance their incomes by £60 million. This will involve providing access to training and jobs in growth sectors and better migration opportunities.
	A business case on the implementation options has yet to be approved.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes are expected from the Strengthening Public Expenditure Management programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By 2015, the Strengthening Public Expenditure Management programme aims to strengthen the systems of budgeting and financial management in the Government of Bangladesh, and improve the effectiveness of audit and parliamentary oversight of the budget and expenditure.
	DFID is contributing to a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank, which also receives support from the European Union and the Governments of Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes are expected from the Rights and Governance Challenge Fund; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By 2013, the Rights and Governance Challenge Fund, implemented by the Manusher Jonno Foundation, is expected to have enabled 253,000 poor and vulnerable people to benefit from social safety net programmes, 11,700 children to be withdrawn from hazardous work, and 121,000 workers in the garments and shrimp industries to be paid on time and have improved working conditions. In 2011 alone, the programme supported 5,755 women to receive Government land that is meant to be allocated to poor people, and 7,000 boys and girls to obtain stipends from the Government to attend school.
	The Rights and Governance Challenge Fund is managed by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF). The fund is allocated through a competitive process and currently supports around 110 small and medium-sized Bangladeshi non-governmental organisations and, through them, 300 community-based organisations across Bangladesh.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes were achieved by the Rural Electricification Development project; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: By June 2010, 739,000 new households and businesses received electricity connections in rural and suburban areas in Bangladesh. The project created the infrastructural backbone for 337,000 new connections in the nine poorest areas and over half a million new connections across the rest of the country.
	The project was implemented by Rural Electrification Development Board and National Rural Electric Co-operative Association (NRECA) in partnership with USAiD.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes are expected from the Promoting Financial Services for Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Promoting Financial Services for Poverty Reduction (PROSPER) programme (2007-14), contributes to the strengthening of the microfinance sector in Bangladesh.
	The first component of the programme, called PRIME, is implemented through Palli Karma Sahayek Foundation (PKSF) and will provide flexible savings and loan products to 600,000 micro, and small enterprises, enabling people to pursue income-generating opportunities and so raise their living standards.
	The second component supports the establishment and operations of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority so that appropriate regulatory frameworks are developed for the microcredit institutions in the country. This helps reduce fraud and ensure that the poor's savings are protected.
	The third component supports the Institute of Microfinance to conduct analytical and operational research on microfinance issues, and provide standardised training to the large number of microfinance professionals in the country.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes are expected from the Bangladesh Humanitarian Preparedness and Response programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The humanitarian programme allows the UK to respond quickly and effectively to disasters. Bangladesh is regularly affected by floods, cyclones, and is at risk of an earthquake. The programme will ensure that lives and livelihoods are saved, and people are assisted to recover and build their resilience through a faster, more flexible model for response, better preparation, and easier access to assist people in remote areas.
	In January 2012, 150,000 people received emergency cash transfers for one month to meet immediate food needs following persistent flooding in southern Bangladesh. This support was delivered by the World Food Programme. Implementing partners for future responses will be decided according to partner capacity, with clear criteria to ensure effective response and value for money. Logistical services are supported through the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes were achieved by the Skills and Opportunities for Employment programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: Under the Skills and Opportunities for Employment programme (2008-11) 20,993 children (51% girls) graduated from Grade VIII and 16,879 (40% girls) received technical training, of whom 90% secured employment.
	This programme was implemented by the Underprivileged Children's Education Programme (UCEP), a Bangladeshi non-governmental organisation.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes were achieved by the Bangladesh Budget Support for Roads and Highways Department programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Bangladesh Budget Support for Roads and Highways Department programme was designed to improve their central management system (CMS) for road maintenance and establish a road maintenance fund.
	In 2007, the programme was cancelled due to fiduciary irregularities.
	The programme was implemented by the Roads and Highways Department of the Government of Bangladesh under the Ministry of Communication.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes were achieved by the Financial Management Reform Programme; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: Between 2003 and 2009, the Financial Management Reform Programme (FMRP) strengthened the links between policy, planning and budgeting in the Government of Bangladesh, by introducing a medium- term budget framework in 20 line ministries and a computerised integrated budget and accounting system in 50 line ministries.
	The programme was implemented by the Atos KPMG Consulting Consortium, with joint funding from the UK and the Netherlands.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of the BRAC Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction-Phase 2 project; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The BRAC Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction-Phase 2 project (2007 to 2011) helped improve the livelihoods, incomes and food security of 1 million extremely poor people of the 40 poorest districts across Bangladesh through transfer of free assets such as cattle, monthly stipends, employment and enterprise training and access to health services. Evaluations show beneficiaries continue to remain out of extreme poverty after the end of the project.
	The project was implemented by BRAC, the largest NGO in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes are expected from the Health Sector Development programme; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The Health Sector Development programme supports the Government of Bangladesh to provide public health services to the 150 million people in the country. The intended outcomes include providing 2.1 million pregnant women with access to antenatal care and 6 million with skilled birth assistance by 2016. In addition, 6 million children under two years of age will be immunised and 18 million will receive vitamin A annually.
	The programme is implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with fiduciary oversight provided by the World Bank. The programme is supported by 21 development partners including the Department for International Development and the World Bank.

Bangladesh

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes are expected from the Strategic Partnership between BRAC, her Department and AusAID to support BRAC in delivering progress towards the millennium development goals in Bangladesh and to support institutional development; and how the project is being implemented in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: Over five years, UK support through the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) will enable BRAC to lift 166,000 women and their families (over 660,000 people) out of extreme poverty; get 176,000 children through five years of primary education; enable 3.2 million additional couples to use modern contraceptive methods; ensure that 608,000 women are attended by skilled attendants when they deliver their babies; provide improved sanitation to 3.6 million people; and give over 250,000 people access to safe water. In addition, the SPA will strengthen BRAC's institutional capacity and long-term sustainability, to ensure its ability to provide basic services into the future.

Electoral Reform International Services

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) her Department and (b) the Westminster Foundation for Democracy donated to Electoral Reform International Services in each of the last three years.

Lynne Featherstone: Between April 2009 and October 2012, DFID provided approximately £226,000 to Electoral Reform International Services (ERIS). £32,000 was provided to ERIS in the financial year 2009-10, £172,000 in 2010-11, and £22,000 in the financial year 2010-11. No payments have so far been made this financial year.
	The Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with several sources of funding. DFID does not keep full information on all of WFD's expenditure. No departmental funds have been transferred to ERIS through WFD.

Maldives

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding has been spent on the Maldives by the multilateral aid organisations with which her Department works.

Alan Duncan: The website of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development—Development Assistance Committee (OECD—DAC) reports on the level of Official Development Assistance to the Maldives, and lists some of the multilateral aid agencies with which DFID works.
	OECD—DAC information on the Maldives:
	http://www.oecd.org/dac/aidstatistics/1882072.gif

Overseas Aid

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's definition of “supported” is in relation to the provision of development aid; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: “Supported” can refer to a range of assistance to help towards delivery of development goals. This could be financial or non-financial support, such as technical assistance.

Sri Lanka

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with her Sri Lankan counterparts on the Sri Lankan military's involvement in civil society roles in the north and east of that country.

Alan Duncan: The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), has not had any recent discussions with her Sri Lankan counterparts on the Sri Lankan military's involvement in civil society roles in the north and east of that country. The UK high commission in Colombo raises this issue regularly with the Government. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Under-Secretary of State also raised this issue with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister in September.

Sri Lanka

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs on the IDP Resettlement Programme in Sri Lanka.

Alan Duncan: The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), has not had any recent discussions with the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on the Internally Displaced People's (IDP) resettlement programme in Sri Lanka. The UK high commission in Colombo is in regular discussion with UNOCHA. Most recently, the high commissioner attended the UNOCHA briefing on this issue in October.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed by Atos Healthcare to work on the work capability assessment in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in each month in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 to date.

Mark Hoban: Data on the number of staff employed by Atos Healthcare to work specifically on the work capability assessment (WCA) are not available. Atos Healthcare headcount is recorded nationally against the DWP Medical Services Contract which extends beyond delivery of the WCA.

Employment: Advisory Services

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to widen access to bodies which may provide advice and guidance with respect to employment issues.

Mark Hoban: There is no monopoly on providing advice about employment issues. Individuals are free to take advice from a range of organisations including Jobcentre Plus, Work programme providers, and other DWP contracted providers—all of whom will signpost to other appropriate sources of advice as necessary. Individuals are also free to take advice from non-Government dependent organisations. Advice can also be found on the recently launched gov.uk which replaces the Directgov and Business Link websites.

Employment: Retail Trade

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of youth employment is provided by the retail sector.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of youth employment is provided by the retail sector. (123304)
	Estimates of youth employment in the UK retail sector are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). For the period April-June 2012 it is estimated that the proportion of people aged 16-24 employed in the retail sector is 21%. This does not include those employed in the retail trade of motor vehicles and motorcycles, as this is classified separately to retail under the Standard Industrial Classification 2007.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many non-UK EU nationals have claimed disability benefits in each of the last five years; and at what cost to the public purse;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of non-UK EU nationals (a) employed in the UK, (b) claiming jobseekers' allowance and (c) on the Work Programme;
	(3)  how many non-UK EU nationals who claim the basic state pension have been resident in the UK for (a) less than one year, (b) between one and two years, (c) between two and three years, (d) between three and four years, (e) between four and five years and (f) over five years;
	(4)  how many non-UK EU nationals who claim jobseeker’s allowance have been resident in the UK for (a) less than one year, (b) between one and two years, (c) between two and three years, (d) between three and four years, (e) between four and five years and (f) over five years;
	(5)  how many non-UK EU nationals who claim disability benefits have been resident in the UK for (a) less than one year, (b) between one and two years, (c) between two and three years, (d) between three and four years, (e) between four and five years and (f) over five years;
	(6)  how many non-UK EU nationals who claim housing benefits have been resident in the UK for (a) less than one year, (b) between one and two years, (c) between two and three years, (d) between three and four years, (e) between four and five years and (f) over five years;
	(7)  what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) cost to the public purse of non-UK EU nationals claiming housing benefit in each of the last five years;
	(8)  how many non-UK EU nationals are claiming the basic state pension; and at what cost to the public purse.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not available.

Future Jobs Fund

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received assistance through the Future Jobs Fund in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009 and (d) 2010.

Mark Hoban: The Future Jobs Fund lasted between October 2009 and March 2011. Overall there were 105,230 starts to Future Jobs Fund vacancies: 4,590 starts in 2009, 81,390 starts in 2010 and 19,250 starts in 2011.

Housing Benefit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the effect of the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2012 on residents living in supported and sheltered housing.

Steve Webb: We think it unlikely that many people in this type of accommodation will be affected by the social sector size criteria reductions for working age housing benefit claimants. This is because most sheltered accommodation is occupied by pensioners who are exempt from the size criteria.
	The regulations also contain a provision to exclude people living in supported exempt accommodation, which includes supported or sheltered housing, from the social sector size criteria reductions.

Income Support

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents with children between the ages of three and five are on out-of-work income support; and what estimate his Department has made of the potential saving to the public purse if such single parents were required to prepare for work in each of the next three years.

Mark Hoban: There are 205,620 lone parents with children between the ages of three and five on income support.
	An estimate of the savings to the public purse brought about by this group being required to prepare for work in each of the next three years is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

New Enterprise Allowance

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Government receive revenue from the interest charged on new business loans in the new enterprise scheme.

Mark Hoban: The Government retain a minimum of one third of the interest charged on loans awarded under the new enterprise allowance scheme. That proportion may increase by up to a further third, depending on the performance of the loan service providers.

Remploy

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to respond to the proposal by Disability Employment Limited to acquire plant and premises at the former Wrexham Remploy site.

Esther McVey: Remploy has received a number of proposals for the site/assets which are currently under consideration, Remploy will be shortly contacting the bidders to clarify the position and confirm the next steps.

Social Security Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who receive (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) carer's allowance, (c) disability living allowance and (d) employment and support allowance have (i) previously worked for over five years and (ii) never worked; and what the cost to the public purse is of benefits for each such category in each of the last three years.

Mark Hoban: The information is not readily available. It is not feasible to produce the statistics requested within the disproportionate cost limit.

Social Security Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been claiming (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) carer's allowance, (c) disability living allowance and (d) employment and support allowance for more than six months in the latest period for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the total value of spending on such benefits in each of the next three years.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on carer’s allowance and employment and support allowance by duration of claim are available from DWP. 100% actual data for May 2012 are published at:
	www.nomisweb.co.uk
	The claimant count figures for jobseeker's allowance, latest figures September 2012, can also be found there.
	Statistics on disability living allowance for claimants are available for February 2012 and are published at:
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/dla/ccsex/ctdurtn/a_carate_r_ccsex_c_ctdurtn_feb12.html
	Guidance for users is available at
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Social Security Benefits: British Nationals Abroad

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living outside the UK receive non-contributory benefits; and what the total monetary value of those benefits is estimated to be in each of the next three years.

Mark Hoban: holding answer 19 October 2012
	The available information is in the following tables:
	
		
			 2011-12 
			  Caseload 
			 Attendance Allowance (August 2011) 1,090 
			 Carers Allowance 230 
			 Disability Living Allowance 4,210 
			 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (December 2011) 6,500 
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 470 
			 State Pension Category D 520 
			 Winter Fuel Payments (2011-12) 74,685 
		
	
	
		
			  2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 Expenditure, nominal (£ million)    
			 Attendance Allowance 83 131 185 
			 Carers Allowance 1 1 1 
			 Disability Living Allowance 12 13 12 
			 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit 13 13 13 
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 2 2 0 
			 State Pension Category D n/a n/a n/a 
			 Winter Fuel Payments 12 12 12 
			 Total 123 171 223 
			     
			 Expenditure, 2012-13 prices (£ million)    
			 Attendance Allowance 83 128 176 
			 Carers Allowance 1 1 1 
			 Disability Living Allowance 12 12 12 
			 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit 13 13 12 
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 2 2 0 
			 State Pension Category D n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		
			 Winter Fuel Payments 12 12 11 
			 Total 123 167 213 
			 Notes: 1. Caseload data reflect position as at February 2012 unless otherwise stated. 2. AA expenditure is forecast to increase due to the July 2011 ruling about exportability of benefits to EEA and Switzerland. 3. State Pension Category D spending for overseas claimants is not separately identified in the forecasts. 4. Figures may include a very small amount of expenditure where the claimant's residence is not known. 5. Benefit expenditure data, including overseas figures, can be found on the DWP website at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure Source: Statistical and accounting data

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Aberconwy have had a sanction applied for refusing to take employment since May 2010.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on how many people in the Aberconwy constituency who have had a sanction applied for refusing to take employment since May 2010 are only available for jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) claimants, which are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of JSA claimants in Aberconwy constituency who have had a sanction applied for refusing employment: 1 May 2010 to 30 April 2012 
			 Area Number of JSA claimants 
			 Aberconwy Constituency 70 
			 Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: JSA Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database 
		
	
	Statistics on how many people in the Aberconwy constituency have had a sanction applied for refusing to take employment since May 2010 for non-JSA claimants are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants had their benefits stopped via sanction in the last quarter for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Universal Credit

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether housing benefit will be paid directly to landlords following the introduction of universal credit.

Mark Hoban: As part of the transition to universal credit, claimants will receive a single monthly payment which will contain an element payable for rent.
	For a minority of claimants, alternative payment arrangements may be needed to support them in the move to universal credit. This might include payment of housing costs direct to the landlord.

Winter Fuel Payments: West Midlands

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners received the winter fuel allowance in (a) Coventry, (b) Coventry North East constituency and (c) the west midlands in each of the last five years.

Steve Webb: The information requested is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Total number of winter fuel payment recipients in Coventry and west midlands 
			  Coventry North East constituency Coventry local authority West midlands region 
			 2011-12 17,530 56,730 1,168,920 
			 2010-11 17,820 57,510 1,178,890 
			 2009-10 17,830 57,400 1,169,350 
			 2008-09 17,260 56,740 1,147,130 
			 2007-08 17,100 56,040 1,122,130 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. These figures recognise the May 2010 structural changes to the parliamentary constituencies of England and Wales and the April 2009 structural changes to the local authorities of England. 3. These figures are for the total number of payments made and will therefore include some recipients who are not yet pension age. 4. The reduction in the latest year's figures is due to the rise in WFP qualifying age which is linked to women's state pension age. 5. The latest figures for winter fuel payments are published at: http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wfp Source: Information, Governance and Security Directorate, DWP

Work Capability Assessment

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who have requested that their work capability assessments be recorded in each parliamentary constituency.

Mark Hoban: Constituency level data are not available.

Work Capability Assessment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he intends to bring forward proposals to ensure that additional evidence from medical practitioners can be taken into account in work capability assessments.

Mark Hoban: Under existing processes the Department's decision-makers are already required to consider all the available information before making a decision on benefit entitlement; this includes additional evidence from medical practitioners.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to undertake the next stocktake of sub-contractors in the Work programme.

Mark Hoban: The most recent stocktake was undertaken on 31 July 2012 and will be published in November. The next stocktake will be undertaken at the end of March 2013 to align with DWP's operating year.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the preferred airline is for staff of his Department travelling between the UK and Kabul.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office takes into account a number of factors when approving routes between the UK and its overseas missions. These include cost, routeing, safety records of airlines, and the personal security of officers and their dependants. We will always strive to obtain maximum value for money for public funds without compromising our duty of care to our officers. The current approved route between London and Kabul is Emirates Airlines London/Dubai and FlyDubai Dubai/Kabul. Staff may use other routes or airlines when they are not travelling on official business. All approved routes are reviewed after six months to ensure that they continue to provide proper value for money.

Arms Trade: Treaties

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent progress has been made on agreeing the Arms Trade Treaty; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty took place in July. The UK continued its leading role at the conference and, although a treaty was not adopted, significant progress was made.
	The UK is now co-authoring a Resolution at the UN General Assembly First Committee, currently underway in New York, to set the timing and modalities for a further short conference in March 2013 to finalise work on the treaty. The UK will continue to lead international efforts to secure a robust and effective Arms Trade Treaty that has the broad support of the UN membership.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Commissioner and Administrator of British Indian Ocean Territory are answerable to Ministers in his Department as officials of his Department or whether they constitute an autonomous Government of an overseas territory.

Mark Simmonds: The Commissioner and Administrator of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) are part of the Government of BIOT, a constitutionally distinct Government of an overseas territory of the UK. Their relationship to UK Ministers is constitutionally comparable to the relationship of the Governments of all overseas territories with UK Ministers. These relationships are set out in the respective overseas territories' constitutions. The constitutional position of the BIOT Government is set out in the BIOT Constitution.
	I will arrange for a copy of the BIOT Constitution to be placed in the Library of the House.

Energy

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what objectives have been set for his adviser on energy and resource security.

Mark Simmonds: In his capacity as personal adviser, Lord Howell will advise the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), on:
	global energy developments and their implications for British foreign policy interests and goals;
	global developments on wider resource security issues and their implications for British foreign policy interests and goals;
	business, economic and political developments overseas which could impact on the UK's ability to achieve energy security in a manner consistent with our interests in climate change.
	The energy aspects of these objectives are in line with the Government's stated goals with respect to international energy security.
	www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/int_energy/int_energy.aspx

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will ask the President of Indonesia for what reason Indonesia rejected the recommendation in the Universal Periodic Review carried out by the UN Human Rights Council that steps be taken to safeguard the rights of indigenous peoples.

Hugo Swire: The Government of Indonesia have responded to recommendations on the rights of indigenous people made during their Universal Periodic Review in May this year. The recommendation was to ensure the rights of indigenous peoples and local forest-dependent peoples in law and practice, in particular regarding their rights to traditional lands, territories and resources.
	The Government of Indonesia had said they supported the promotion and protection of indigenous people worldwide. However, given its demographic composition Indonesia does not recognise the application of the indigenous people concept as defined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the country.
	The UK promotes best practice by encouraging all states to submit effective responses to their Universal Periodic Review recommendations. We will continue to raise issues with respect to indigenous people with the Government of Indonesia at every appropriate opportunity.

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on Indonesia's response to the recommendations of its Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council; and if he will discuss that response with the President of Indonesia during his forthcoming State visit.

Hugo Swire: On 5 September 2012 Indonesia presented its report to the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in response to the UPR review it underwent in May 2012. It received 180 recommendations, accepted 150 and rejected 30. A UK official who was present noted that the delegation were quite open about the fact that they still faced a number of challenges to their human rights performance. External factors such as extremism were still having a big influence over how they handled human rights issues. The UPR is a subsidiary of the Human Rights Council and both are political bodies/mechanisms. It is good practice for states to give reasons why they have rejected recommendations but it is not always done.
	It is our policy to encourage effective responses and implementation of recommendations. We have taken note of Indonesia's response to the recommendations. Our embassy in Jakarta engages regularly with the Government of Indonesia on human rights issues bilaterally and through the EU and stands ready to offer advice or guidance should Indonesia require our help.

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss allegations of rising religious intolerance and violations of freedom of religion or belief in Indonesia with the President of that country during his forthcoming state visit to the UK.

Hugo Swire: We are concerned about individuals and groups in Indonesia who are denied the right to freedom of religion or belief, or who face discrimination and persecution. We have raised the difficulties that religious minorities experience in Indonesia with the Indonesian Government. In our statement for Indonesia's Universal Periodic Review in May this year, we encouraged the Government to tackle violence against minority faiths, ensure that those who perpetrate these acts are brought to justice, and promote a climate where such incidents do not reoccur.
	The Prime Minister, during his speech at the Al Azhar university in Jakarta in April this year, referred to freedom of religion and highlighted
	“the vital importance of standing up against the despicable violence and persecution of minorities, whether Christians, Ahmadiyyas, or others; and ensuring that people have the right to live their lives, and practise their religion in the way they see fit.”

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss the human rights situation in West Papua with the President of Indonesia during his forthcoming state visit to the UK.

Hugo Swire: We regularly discuss the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua with the Indonesian Government. We take seriously all reports of human rights violations in the provinces and we will continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Indonesia.
	During the state visit, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), will meet his counterpart the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Mr Marty Natalegawa, and the Prime Minister will meet the President, where there will be an opportunity to raise these issues.

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will encourage the President of Indonesia to establish a meaningful dialogue with representatives of the people of West Papua, to seek a peaceful political solution to the Papuan conflict.

Hugo Swire: The UK encourages meaningful dialogue between all parties and remains committed to urging all levels of government to work with the Papuans towards solving their regional governance disputes peacefully.
	During the state visit, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), will meet his counterpart the Foreign Minister of Indonesia Mr Marty Natalegawa, and the Prime Minister will meet with the President, where there will be an opportunity to raise these issues.

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will encourage the President of Indonesia to invite the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression to visit (a) West Papua and (b) other parts of Indonesia in 2013.

Hugo Swire: During the Indonesian Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session in May 2012 the UK noted that no Special Rapporteur had visited Indonesia since 2007, and the UK encouraged Indonesia to accept requests for visits to take place. In September of this year a response to the UPR recommendations confirmed that the Government have extended an invitation to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. The plans regarding the dates and modalities are currently the subject of consultation between the Government and the Special Rapporteur. We would encourage the Indonesian Government to allow complete, unhindered and unfettered access to all provinces of Indonesia. However, it is up to the country concerned how much access they will be given.

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will encourage the President of Indonesia to invite the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief to visit that country in 2013.

Hugo Swire: Indonesia underwent its Universal Period Review in May 2012. The UK statement noted the increasing attacks against religious minorities and we specifically recommended that Indonesia accept a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. We continue to encourage Indonesia to accept such visits.

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will urge the President of Indonesia to revise or repeal that country's blasphemy law and its ministerial decrees on religion, and to take steps to end discriminatory policies towards religious minorities and ensure full protection for freedom of religion and belief.

Hugo Swire: We believe that freedom of religion or belief and respect for religious plurality should be at the heart of society. Indonesia's own constitution enshrines these values. We continue to monitor the Indonesian authorities' policies towards freedom of religion issues, including the blasphemy law and 2008 Joint Ministerial Decree. Along with our EU partners, we will continue to call for religious tolerance across Indonesia and press the authorities to ensure the rights of all religious minorities.

Indonesia

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with the President of Indonesia the potential effects on the rule of law in that country of the decision by certain local mayors to refuse permission for churches to open; and if he will offer Indonesia assistance in the development, protection and promotion of the rule of law.

Hugo Swire: During the forthcoming state visit of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), will meet his counterpart, the Foreign Minister of Indonesia Mr Marty Natalegawa, and the Prime Minister will meet the President, where there will be an opportunity to raise these and other issues. Our embassy in Jakarta is already using funds to support building democratic institutions in Indonesia. This includes a project with civil society and the police to develop and disseminate guidelines on dealing with cases related to religious freedom run by the non-governmental organisation Kontras Indonesia.

Indonesia

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what training his Department has provided to Indonesia's Densus 88 through the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation; what evaluations it has made of that training; what discussions concerning the training have taken place with Indonesian civil society organisations; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the most recent impact assessment of such training.

Hugo Swire: Our training with the Indonesian National Police (and specifically with Densus (Detachment 88) at Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation (JCLEC)) is focused on combating terrorism. Classroom-based training run by a training officer from the Metropolitan police force shares the UK experience in managing counter-terrorism investigations and preventing terrorist attacks; and in the investigation and prosecution of those who are responsible in a way that is compliant with international human rights standards. We evaluate projects looking at impact, deliverability and value for money. JCLEC’s intended outputs are closely aligned with the UK’s counter-terrorism CONTEST strategy and our assessment to date is that through the training at JCLEC the UK has contributed positively to Indonesia’s ability to disrupt terrorist networks operating in the region. Our embassy in Jakarta has an ongoing dialogue with civil society organisations covering a wide range of issues. The UK’s support for Indonesia’s work against terrorism is discussed as part of the regular dialogue about our bilateral relationship.

Indonesia

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on allegations that the Indonesian counter-terrorist organisation Densus 88 was involved in the killing of the Papuan political leader, Mako Tabuni, in June 2012, and in recent arrests of political activists in Papua.

Hugo Swire: Officers from specialist units including Densus 88 are part of local police structures in most provinces throughout Indonesia, including Papua (where these officers report to headquarters in Jakarta). We are aware that Mako Tabuni was killed by the Indonesian security forces on 14 June, but the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. Our ambassador met with senior police officials in Papua in September and emphasised the need for full and transparent investigations into violent incidents.

Indonesia

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to ensure that officers of the Indonesian counter-terrorist organisation Densus 88 trained by the UK are not involved in human rights violations in Papua.

Hugo Swire: The UK shares the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation's (JCLEC) commitment to work within a framework of respect for the rule of law and a commitment to upholding human rights obligations in compliance with UK and international standards. We keep our capacity building work under close review to ensure that it meets our human rights obligations. All of the training delivered by the UK is rooted firmly in the importance of upholding human rights in counter-terror investigations and each training course contains a specific module on these obligations.
	Any allegations of wrongdoing in counter-terror operations should be taken seriously and fully investigated and addressed. We welcomed the Chief of the Indonesian National Police's commitment, in July 2011, that in the event of any allegations, Densus 88 would be open “to any assessment made by a third party to make sure that the unit violates no law” and to take action if it is clear that a violation has occurred.

Indonesia

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what UK-supplied military equipment is used by the Indonesian counter-terrorism organisation Densus 88; what guidelines have been issued to the British embassy in Indonesia concerning the end-use monitoring of UK-supplied military equipment; and if he will place a copy of those guidelines in the Library.

Hugo Swire: The UK has not licensed the export of any goods or technology from the UK Military List for use by Densus 88 in the past 13 years, which are the years for which electronic records are available. Guidance on the end-use monitoring of UK-supplied military equipment is made available to all Posts. Disclosure of this internal guidance could prejudice the effective conduct of our Posts' activity; thus I do not propose to place a copy in the House Library.

Indonesia

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what funding the Government has provided (a) to the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) and (b) for training of Indonesia's Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) counter-terrorism unit through JCLEC, by year; and under what budget headings any such funding was allocated.

Hugo Swire: Since 2005 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Counter Terrorism Programme (CTP) has provided approximately £2.3 million in support of the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation. In 2012-13 the CTP is providing £430,000; in 2011-12 we provided £400,000; in financial year (FY) 2010-11 we provided £370,000; in FY 2009-10 we provided £384,912; in FY 2008-09 we provided £169,124; in FY 2007-08 we provided £212,486; in FY 2006-07 we provided £210,413; and in 2005-06 we provided £133,204. Each year we have delivered a package of classroom-based training programmes and support through a UK Police Training Adviser.
	These training programmes are provided for the Indonesian National Police including officers from Densus 88 as the lead police unit tackling terrorism in the country. They aim to share UK experience in managing counter-terrorism investigations, preventing terrorist attacks; and investigating and prosecuting those who are responsible in a way that is compliant with international human rights standards.

Nigeria

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the extent of religious persecution in Nigeria; and what representations he has made to the Nigerian Government on such persecution.

Mark Simmonds: We assess that Nigeria is a tolerant nation, but attacks by violent extremists have sought to provoke religious division. Such attacks, as well as inter-communal violence, have caused suffering in both Christian and Muslim communities in Nigeria. Responsibility for many of these attacks, including, increasingly, those against places of worship, has been claimed by the Islamic extremist group popularly known as Boko Haram. Boko Haram has also claimed responsibility for attacks against political and traditional leaders, as well as members of Nigeria's security forces. The British Government condemn all such instances of violence, and we regularly call for those responsible to be brought to justice and for the Government of Nigeria to ensure the protection of all Nigerian citizens. The most recent occasion was during the visit by the three Permanent Secretaries of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence in September.

Somalia

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on levels of human trafficking in Somalia; and what discussions he has had with his Somali counterpart on human trafficking.

Mark Simmonds: We take human trafficking very seriously and recognise that it is a prevalent problem in the horn of Africa. We are committed to tackling human trafficking both on a national and global scale and to supporting the work being carried out by the International Organisation for Migration and other organisations in the region to help tackle this crime. The UK is working closely with Somali, African Union and international partners to ensure the protection of human rights throughout Somalia, including by developing the Government's capacity to tackle human rights issues such as human trafficking. This is in line with the aims of our Human Trafficking Strategy.
	Somalia is not one of the major source countries for trafficking victims to the UK. Since January 2012, three Somali nationals have been referred to the UK's national referral mechanism as potential victims.

Sri Lanka

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the treatment and situation of Tamils returned to Sri Lanka by the UK in the last year.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office monitors the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and our high commission maintains an oversight of the returns process. The UK does not monitor unsuccessful asylum seekers who have returned to their country of origin, because they are, by definition, foreign nationals who have been found as a matter of law not to need the UK's protection and who had no legal basis of stay in the UK.
	The UK takes its international responsibilities seriously and fully complies with all of its international obligations under the 1951 United Nations convention relating to the status of refugees and the European convention on human rights. The British Government also regularly urge the Sri Lankan Government to improve the human rights situation for vulnerable groups and to investigate incidents that happen and prosecute those responsible.
	Where asylum seekers can demonstrate they face a real risk of persecution or ill-treatment on return to Sri Lanka, they are granted protection in the UK. Returns are enforced only if it is safe to do so and the UK Border Agency is satisfied that the individual has no international protection needs. All decisions have a right of appeal where they are evaluated by the independent Tribunal Service for Immigration and Asylum. The European Court of Human Rights has endorsed our policy that not all Tamil asylum seekers are in need of international protection.

Terrorism

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the extent of funding of terrorist organisations from ransom payments.

Alistair Burt: Terrorists use kidnapping to raise finance. al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQ-M) in particular has repeatedly taken western hostages. In some cases these operations have been co-ordinated with al-Qaeda leadership. Funds raised from ransom payments have significantly enhanced AQ-M's operational capability, including its ability to recruit and retain personnel and buy new equipment. The British Government's policy on kidnap for ransom is long-held and clear: we seek the swift and safe return of hostages, but do not pay ransoms or make other substantive concessions to hostage takers (prisoner release or a change in policy). We do so on the basis that making concessions serves only to fuel the problem and increase the risk to our nationals.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

ACAS

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will undertake an investigation into the efficacy and impartiality of the advice given by the ACAS helpline.

Jo Swinson: ACAS takes its responsibilities to ensure that it gives callers accurate and impartial advice very seriously. ACAS regularly monitors customers' usage, experiences and attitudes towards the ACAS helpline. The following results are based on the most recent independent evaluation of the ACAS helpline published in August 2012:
	Impartiality:
	94% of callers agreed that the helpline adviser presented the information in an impartial way.
	Quality of advice:
	93% of callers agreed that the helpline adviser was knowledgeable;
	86% of callers agreed that the information provided answered their inquiry in full;
	85% of callers agreed that the information provided helped them decide what to do next (this is quoted in the 2011-12 annual report “performance against customer satisfaction targets” against a target of 70%);
	87% of callers agreed that the information provided in their call was valuable to them.
	Overall satisfaction:
	94% of callers were satisfied overall with the service they received from the ACAS helpline.
	ACAS has a comprehensive programme of development for its advisers to ensure they are kept up to date, and managers work closely with staff, including listening to call recordings to ensure that the advice given meets its standards.

Apprentices: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people started Government apprenticeships in the Ashfield constituency in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 to date.

Matthew Hancock: Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship programme starts in the Ashfield parliamentary constituency for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years based on final year data and for the 2011-12 academic year based on provisional data.
	Provisional data for the 2011-12 academic year provide an early view of performance and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers. Figures for 2011-12 will be finalised in January 2013. They should not be directly compared with final year data from previous years.
	
		
			 Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts in Ashfield parliamentary constituency, 2009-10 to 2011-12(1) 
			  Final Provisional 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Ashfield parliamentary constituency 710 1,270 1,430 
			 (1)Provisional. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Geographic breakdowns are based upon the home postcode of the learner. 3. Figures are based on the geographic boundaries as of May 2010. Source: Individualised Learner Record. 
		
	
	Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by geography is published in a supplementary table to a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 11 October 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary_tables/

British Antarctic Survey

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for the future of the British Antarctic Survey.

David Willetts: There is at present no agreed plan to change the status of the British Antarctic Survey. On 7 June 2012, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) announced that it is looking at merging the scientific and logistics management of the British Antarctic Survey and the National Oceanography Centre to form a single, integrated marine and polar research centre. An open consultation of stakeholders and staff was launched on the NERC website and closed last week with 370 responses. The NERC Council will reach a decision in due course, informed by the results of the consultation and other feedback.
	Any changes would have no effect on the UK's commitment to scientific excellence in Antarctica nor on the existing footprint of scientific bases and research ships in the South Atlantic. NERC has stated that the three NERC sites in Cambridge, Southampton and Liverpool will remain. The British Antarctic Survey name would be retained for activities and logistics relating to the Antarctic and South Atlantic.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy was on retaining section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 during negotiations on the Designs Directive.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 19 October 2012
	The Designs Directive was negotiated in the late 1990s, under a previous Administration. It is an established convention that Minsters of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested.

Females: Directors

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the proposal by the European Commission to institute a mandatory quota on the number of women on company boards.

Jo Swinson: We have received no formal announcement from the European Commission as to their proposed policy for women on boards.
	The Government agree with the Commission that increasing the representation of women on the boards of UK listed companies is an important issue. However we are not in favour of EU legislation or regulation, including quotas. National-level solutions are best and evidence shows that the UK's voluntary business-led approach is working.

Graduates

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects from universities in England in the last three years were UK nationals; and what proportion of students registered for postgraduate degrees in such subjects in England are UK nationals.

David Willetts: The latest available information on the proportion of undergraduate qualifiers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects from universities in England who were of UK nationality is shown in Table 1 for the academic years 2008/09 to 2010/11. Information on the proportion of postgraduate enrolments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects at universities in England who were of UK nationality is shown in Table 2.
	Information for the 2011/12 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2013.
	
		
			 Table 1: UK National undergraduate qualifiers by subject of study English higher education institutions, academic years 2008/09 to 2010/11 
			  2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 
			 Subject area Enrolments Of which: UK Nationals % UK Nationals Enrolments Of which: UK Nationals % UK Nationals Enrolments Of which: UK Nationals % UK Nationals 
			 STEM 166,120 129,255 77.8 172,380 132,970 77.1 177.320 136,685 77.1 
			 Non-STEM 231.810 175,295 75.6 245,660 185,080 75.3 256,665 191,360 74.6 
			 Total 397,930 304,550 76.5 418,045 318,050 76.1 433,985 328,045 75.6 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. 2. Percentages are calculated on unrounded figures and are given to one decimal place. 3. STEM: Science, Technology. Engineering and Mathematics Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: UK National postgraduate enrolments(1) by subject of study English higher education institutions, academic years 2008/09 to 2010/11 
			  2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 
			 Subject area Enrolments Of which: UK Nationals % UK Nationals Enrolments Of which: UK Nationals % UK Nationals Enrolments Of which: UK Nationals % UK Nationals 
			 STEM 165,775 89,305 53.9 180,365 96.855 53.7 181,115 96,555 53.3 
		
	
	
		
			 Non-STEM 283,540 165,125 58.2 304,965 175,190 57.4 310,280 177,630 57.2 
			 Total 449,315 254,430 56.6 485,335 272,040 56.1 491,395 274,185 55.8 
			 (1) Covers students in all years of study. Notes: 1. Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. 2. Percentages are calculated on unrounded figures and are given to one decimal place. 3. STEM: Science. Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency {HESA) Student Record

Students: Fees and Charges

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the competitiveness of universities in England and Wales in attracting UK students at present fee levels.

David Willetts: In our annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), dated 25 January 2012, we asked HEFCE to provide an initial assessment by December 2012 of how the new funding arrangements are affecting students and institutions in England. This will help inform the next grant letter to HEFCE, which will cover the 2013-14 financial year.
	As higher education policy in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Government, assessing the competitiveness of Welsh universities would not be undertaken by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Students: Fees and Charges

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of the consumer price index basket of goods higher education tuition fees represent.

David Willetts: In the consumer prices index, education holds a weight of 19 out of a total of 1,000. That weight of 19 is further subdivided as shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Weight 
			 Education 19.00 
			 University Tuition Fees—International Student 3.80 
			 Private School Fees 5.32 
			 University Tuition Fees—UK Student 6.46 
			 Part-time Education Classes 3.42 
		
	
	Further information on the construction of the consumer prices index can be found at
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cpi/consumer-price-indices/september-2012/index.html

Wind Power

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the skills gap that exists in relation to the potential for offshore wind development in the UK; and what steps he plans to take to address that gap.

Matthew Hancock: The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) investigated skills issues and published "Maximising employment and skills in the offshore wind supply chain" in August 2011. In addition, Energy and Utility Skills (EU Skills), the Sector Skills Council for the renewable energy industry, and RenewableUK, produced "Working for a Green Britain: Vol 2, Future Employment and Skills in the UK Wind and Marine Industries" (July 2011). These sources provide a good assessment of the skills required for the future offshore wind industry.
	In terms of activity, there has been significant success for the offshore sector in securing skills capacity funding managed by UKCES. For example, RenewableUK received support to establish a Renewable Training Network aiming to tackle skills shortages in the renewable energy sector and EU Skills received funding to create a Group Skills Purchasing Scheme to support the provision of quality assured training addressing the skills needed for the delivery of renewable energy. There is also a range of initiatives aiming to increase awareness of green skills, such as information provided through the National Careers Service and improve, green skills provision in the Further Education sector through the work of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service.